


Vigilante Hiccup

by Narsil5



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: AU, Angst, Canon Divergence - Hiccup Leaves Before The Final Training Test, Gen, but like AUish spoilers, handy that there's already a tag for that huh, heavy au, hiccup's a vigilante dragon free-er i guess?, httyd 2 spoilers, httyd 3 spoilers, httyd spoilers, so idk, the body parts dealer is very southern be warned, the violence thing is just a precaution tbh, vigilante!hiccup AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2020-09-01 21:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narsil5/pseuds/Narsil5
Summary: This is my first AU, so we'll see how this goes. Covers the events of HTTYD 1, some Defenders of Berk and Race to the Edge, HTTYD 2, and possibly HTTYD 3.





	1. Leaving

“You get to kill a dragon!” the people filling the arena cheer, slapping Hiccup on the back and hoisting him into the air and passing him onto Gobber’s shoulders. 

Hiccup raised his arm half-heartedly and sighed.“Yeah, yeah, that’s great, I’m so-” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Leaving.” he finished his sentence back at the cove. “We’re leaving.” he swung down an oversized pack filled with every possible thing he could need that was in his hut- his father’s hut. Toothless tilted his head at him. “Looks like you and I are taking a little vacation. . .forever.” he opened the pack to check for everything- rope, dried fish, a few fishing hooks, some bread, a few forging tools and leather, all the plans for Toothless’ tail, an extra waistcoat. . .that seemed to cover it. Hiccup nodded in satisfaction. 

Suddenly a ringing, scraping noise cut through the relative silence of the cove. 

“Woah!” Hiccup yelped, jumping up and stammering. “What the- u-uh, um. . .whaaat are you doing here?” 

Astrid sat perched on a rock, sharpening her axe. “I want to know what’s going on.” she answered, tossing her whetstone to the side. “No one just gets as good as you do,” she hopped off the rock and strode towards Hiccup, stopping inches from him with a menacing glare. “Especially you. Start talking.” 

“Uh- uh, uh. . .uh, I-” 

“Are you training with someone?” she tossed her axe from her right hand to her left. 

“T-training? I didn’t-” 

“It better not involve this,” she gestured at his flight vest. 

“I-I know, this looks really bad, but this- this is uh-” 

Astrid gasped and threw him to the ground. She stepped on Hiccup as she walked forward, peering into the shadows. 

Hiccup hastily got up. “You’re right, you’re right!” he said loudly, trying to place himself in Astrid’s line of sight. “I-I’m through with the lies. . .I’ve been making outfits! So, you got me, it’s time everyone knew, drag me back- AUGH!” Astrid twisted his arm and dropped him back on the ground. “Ow! Why would you do that?” 

“That’s for the lies,” she told him, “And that’s-” she dropped her axe on his stomach “-for everything else.” 

A curious growl came from Toothless’ hiding spot. Astrid looked up in shock. 

“Oooh no,” Hiccup groaned, just before Astrid tackled him yelling “GET DOWN!” 

Toothless saw her tackle Hiccup and lunged forward, growling. Astrid scrambled to her feet and began to swing her axe. 

It was Hiccup’s turn to tackle someone. The teens hit the ground with a thud. Hiccup stood quickly and threw out his arms to stop Toothless, saying “Woah woah woah- it’s ok, it’s ok. . .she’s a friend.” That last bit was a bit of a stretch, but it seemed to work. Toothless huffed and stopped, still trying to push forward but held back by Hiccup. “You scared him,” Hiccup said reproachfully. 

“I scared him?!” Astrid, exclaimed, getting to her feet and backing away. “Who. . .is Him?” 

Hiccup grinned nervously. “Astrid, Toothless!” he gestured from one to the other. “Toothless, Astrid.” Toothless snarled and glared at Astrid. 

Astrid took a shaky breath, shook her head, and sprinted the other direction, axe forgotten on the ground. 

“Duh duh duh, we’re dead.” Hiccup said flatly as Toothless walked off, satisfied that he had scared off the enemy. “Woah woah woah woah!” Hiccup protested, turning to look at him. “Where do you think you’re going?” 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Astrid tore through the underbrush, panting as she made a beeline back towards the village. She made a vault jump over a large log, but halfway through paws gripped her shoulders and dragged her upwards as she screamed in terror. 

“Ah! Oh my- oh my gods, this is it- aaah!” she yelled, kicking her feet as she was carried above the tree line. “Aaaaah-” she was roughly deposited on the branch of the tallest pine tree. “Hiccup!” she screamed, glaring up at him as she dangled from the branch. “Get me down from here!” 

“You have to give me a chance to explain!” he called back. 

“I am not listening to anything you have to say!” 

“Then I won’t speak,” he assured her. “Just let me show you. Please, Astrid.” 

She finally succeeded in hauling herself up. She huffed and reached out towards Toothless, who growled. Hiccup placed a hand on him to pacify him, then held his other out to Astrid, who batted it away before climbing on. “There,” she said, looking about nervously. “Now, get me down.” 

“Toothless,” Hiccup said, “Take us down. Gently.” The dragon extended his wings. “See?” HIccup turned so he could look at Astrid. “Nothing to be afraid of-” And in that moment, Toothless took off, shooting upwards like an arrow as Hiccup and Astrid both screamed. 

“Toothless!” Hiccup yelled above Astrid’s incoherent screaming. To be entirely fair to her, she was nearly falling off. “What is wrong with you?! Bad dragon!” 

Astrid caught Hiccup’s shoulders and pulled herself back into the saddle, still yelling. “Ha ha ha,” Hiccup tried for a laugh. “He’s not usually like this- oh no.” Toothless rolled over to the side in a freefall. Astrid is still yelling. 

Toothless pulled up in the nick of time, splashing against the water. He bounced across the surface like a stone being skipped. 

“Toothless-what-are-you-doing-we-need-her-to-like-us-” Hiccup yelled, before Toothless swooped upwards again and began twirling mid-air. “Aaand now he’s spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile.” 

Toothless responded by diving, the wind whistling in the teens’ ears as the rushed back towards the sea. “Okay!” Astrid relented, practically hugging Hiccup. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Just- just get me off this thing!” The dragon tilted his head towards her voice, and abruptly their flight path evened out. He took them gently upwards into the clouds, and when Astrid dared open her eyes the white fluff was near enough to touch. And she did just that as Hiccup glanced back at her. 

The trio flew until afternoon turned to dusk and dusk to night, the northern lights gracing them with greens and blues. Berk was visible mainly by the flickering lights in the windows, dozens of little warm homing beacons shining in the dark. 

“Alright, I have to admit,” Astrid said with a small smile, “This is pretty cool. . .this is amazing. He’s amazing.” she patted Toothless gently, and he rumbled happily in response. They flew a few moments in silence before Astrid said “Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow! You know you’re going to have to-” she paused, then lowered her voice. “Have to kill a dragon.” 

“Don’t remind me,” Hiccup groaned. 

Toothless made a few agitated head movements, the keeled to one side. “Toothless what are you doing?” Hiccup asked, both concerned and annoyed. 

Out of the fog another dragon appeared, a Monstrous Nightmare, carrying a large fish. It nearly knocked Toothless off course, and Hiccup and Astrid lay as flat as they could against his back. More and more dragons appeared, a Deadly Nadder, Gronkles, all carrying something in their talons. “What’s going on?” Astrid whispered. 

“I don’t know,” answered Hiccup, laying a hand o Toothless’ head. “Toothless, you’ve got to get us out of here bud-” the dragon shook the hand off. Another Nightmare flew by, holding something that Hiccup was pretty sure was –but hoped it wasn’t- a Viking. “Looks like they’re hauling in their kill. . .” 

“Uh, what does that make us?” Astrid asked nervously. 

A Titanwing Zippleback glared at them suspiciously. Suddenly, the whole flock of dragons dove as one and began weaving in between sea stacks and the wreckage of old ships. A thick mist was everywhere, making it hard for the humans to see, but somehow the dragons knew where to go. 

Out of the mist loomed an island, cracks glowing red from the heat inside. The flock made a beeline for it, actually going inside the mountain through a cave. Inside was a huge cavern, the bottom hidden by steam and an eerie red glow. “What my dad wouldn’t give to find this,” Hiccup breathed. The dragons cruised over it, dropping their cargo as they went, then landing on rocks and waiting. “Well it’s satisfying to know that all our food is being dumped down a hole.” 

“They’re not eating any of it!” Astrid said, peering down into the steam from where Toothless had landed on a rock column. 

A lone Gronkle meandered over the middle after most of the other dragons had landed, pausing to scratch itself. After a moment or two it barfed up a half-digested mackerel, looking vaguely pleased with itself. 

Out of the pit lunged a gigantic dragon, snapping the Gronkle before Hiccup could even blink. All the dragons hid in holes and clefts in the rock, trying desperately to stay out of sight as the monster looked about the cavern. “Toothless, get us out of here. . .!” he muttered urgently. 

Indeed, for a moment it sunk back into the pit that it had emerged from, but then it rose again, making a slight growling noise and looking at one dragon: Toothless. Huge nostrils flared as the creature lunged upwards, snapping at Toothless’ retreating tail. 

The entire flock of dragons funneled up and out the top of the mountain into the cloudy sky, roaring and screeching in fear. The monster pursued them, missing Toothless but catching a Zippleback before it fell back to the depths from which it had risen.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“It all makes sense!” Astrid exclaimed once they arrived safely back at the cove. “It’s like a giant beehive! They’re the workers, and that’s their queen!” she hopped off Toothless. “We have to tell your father!” 

“No, no!” Hiccup protested, running up and grabbing her arm. “No! Not yet, no. . .he’ll kill Toothless. . .we have to think about this, very carefully. . .” 

“Hiccup! We just discovered the Dragon’s Nest, the thing we’ve been after since Vikings first sailed here!” Astrid scoffed. “And you want to keep it a secret? To- to protect your pet dragon?” 

Hiccup looked her in the eyes. “Yes.” he said stubbornly. 

Astrid stared at him for a second, then her face softened. “Okay,” she said at last. “What are you gonna do?” 

Hiccup sighed. “I’m going to leave, Astrid.” 

Her mouth dropped open. “What- you can’t do that!” 

“Why not?” he turned to look at her. “I don’t fit in here, the whole arena thing is a lie. If my father, Gobber, any of the others find out. . .Astrid, it’ll be better without me.” 

She glared at him. “And what are you going to do? Leave us to be attacked by these dragons that are controlled by a larger one? Let the killing continue? Just so that you can be happy? If that’s the case, then you’re not half the person I thought you were.” 

Hiccup looked as if she had slapped him. “What do you want me to do? I can’t stay, and I can’t tell anyone!” 

“You told me!” 

“You followed me down here!” he waved his arms in frustration. 

“You can’t just let this continue!” she retorted. “Look at Berk, seven generations and every single building is new! People lost every night, the ships never coming back! And we could stop it!” 

Hiccup stilled and looked at her. “Yeah,” he said softly. “We can. Me and Toothless.” 

She did a double take. “What- oh no, you can’t be thinking about going back? Alone?” 

“Think about it,” Hiccup urged, gesturing with his arms again. “I could go back, and the attacks would stop. No one would find out about the nest, Toothless will be safe, and you guys could live in peace!” 

“Hiccup, what about you?” she said softly. 

“What about me?” 

“Your dad? He’s not gonna just let you go.” 

“I’m not going to ask him about it.” Hiccup said, slinging his pack from earlier over his shoulder. “I have to do this Astrid.” 

“He’s going to miss you! You can’t just leave him!” her voice rose in anger again. 

“It’s not like I’m the kid he wanted anyway!” 

“He’s proud of you!” 

“He’s proud of my lies!” Hiccup shouted. “I lied to him, Astrid. I lied to everyone. I’m a fake. Leaving? That’s me. That’s all I am. A lie that needs to go.” 

“Then I’m coming with you,” she said in a normal tone. “I’m not ashamed of you.” 

“No, no, Astrid,” Hiccup stopped shouting. “I need you to stay here, to tell them what happened.” 

“You said you didn’t want to telll them about the nest!” she replied, crossing her arms. 

“You’re not,” Hiccup answered, a strange look upon his face. “You’re going to tell them that a Night Fury carried me off.” 

Astrid gaped at him. “You want me to lie?” 

“Well,” he cracked a smile. “A Night Fury will carry me off, right bud?” Toothless made a rumbling noise from where he lay. 

Astrid and Hiccup looked eachother in the eyes for a moment. At long last, Astrid sighed, then stepped forward. 

She punched him in the arm. “That’s for kidnapping me,” she hesitated. “And that’s-” she pulled him in and gave him a quick kiss. “-that’s for everything else.” 

Hiccup stumbled back a little in shock. “Yeah, I. . .uh. . .” 

She laughed a little. “Go get carried off by a Night Fury.” 

He grinned at her, then hopped on Toothless. Within seconds they were up and out the cove. Astrid watched the shadow cross over the stars, then started her way back to the village.


	2. Getting Back On His Own Two Feet

Astrid made her way up the steps of the Great Hall where the chief was meeting with the rest of the adults. She paused at the doors to take a deep breath, thinking about what she was about to do. Settling her nerves, she shoved the doors open. 

It was mostly empty, only Spitelout, Gobber, the heads of the Ingerman and Thorston clans where there. And, of course, Chief Stoick the Vast, Oh Hear His Name and Tremble, Ugh Ugh. His beard was burned in patches and he didn’t look to happy, but he sat up upon Astrid’s entrance. “Ah, Astrid. HAve you seen Hiccup? He disappeared just after his performance in the arena.” 

Astrid swallowed. “That’s actually what I came here to talk to you about, sir.” 

“What is it?” Stoick stood hurriedly. “Did something happen to him?” 

“Y-yes.” Astrid nodded, hating herself for this already. “He was. . .carried off by. . .a Night Fury.” 

A hush fell on the Hall, then rapid whispering began. “Silence!” roared Stoick, smashig his hammer onto the table. “A Night fury!?” 

“Yes sir,” Astrid responded. “He went down to the cove to find it- he wasn’t lying when he said he shot it down, sir-” 

Stoick’s whole frame seemed to collapse. “He really did it,” he whispered. “And I didn’t believe him.” 

“Stoick, ye can’t go blamin’ yourself-” Gobber started, but Stoick cut him off with a glare. 

“He is my son, Gobber, and I didn’t listen to him.” he sighed and sat down, head in hands. “It is my fault.” 

Astrid stood there awkwardly, not sure what to say or even if she should say anything at all. “Sir, I-I should get back home, my parents. . .” 

“Yes,” Stoick said with an effort. “Yes, do that. I have things to do.” he got up again and stode out of the hall, his fur cloak swishing behind him. Astrid followed as far as the door, then turned down the street towards her house. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Stoick squeezed into his son’s room and sat on the bed, which creaked under his sudden weight. He looked about the small space, not sure what to feel. Hiccup’s helmet was on the desk, along with a bunch of drawings and sketches. He moved over to look at some, sifting through years of his son’s artwork, art that he had dismissed as a phase, a thing for Hiccup to forget in favor of becoming like him. 

He snorted. Seeing as he had now lost both his wife and his son the dragons, he couldn’t think why he had ever wanted Hiccup to grow up like him. Failing to protect what mattered most. 

Then he shook his head. ‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,’ came the old Haddock saying, playing through Stoick’s head. The village was more important than his own grief, even his own family. 

This is what he tried to tell himself, that the village was still safe, that he wasn’t failing completely. That it didn’t matter that he had lost his family, that nothing was more important to him then Berk itself. 

But deep down, he wept. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Hiccup and Toothless landed on one of the sea stacks just beyond the wall of fog. Hiccup took a deep breath as he leaned against the dragon’s side, steeling himself for whatever lay ahead. “You ready bud?” 

Toothless rumbled in assent, and they took off again, dodging pillars. They arrived at the mountain around what would have been dawn, but the heavy clouds covered the sun and all traces of its light. Hiccup took a deep breath as they dived into the mountain, shooting past the dragons sleeping on it’s walls. 

The mist was swirling down below, but there was no sign of the queen. Hiccup thought for a moment, then signaled to Toothless to pull up, which he did. 

Hiccup pointed at a boulder and made a grabbing motion, hoping his dragon would get his meaning. 

Toothless did and hauled the boulder up and flew laboriously over the pit again, dropping it dead center as Hiccup yelled “Come on out, you big coward!” 

Sure enough, the queen rose from the depths, roaring in rage. She saw the hovering form of her Night Fury holding a boy, and something in this infuriated her. Her roar became deeper, more guttural as she lunged upwards, smashing through the top of the mountain as Toothless flew desperately upwards. 

She crashed out to the fresh air, still roaring. Hiccup felt as if he could see the ground shaking beneath her feet. As more and more of the ginormous creature emerged, Hiccup started and said, “That thing has wings!” he thought for a moment, then clenched his jaw. “Well, let’s see if it can use them.” He steered Toothless over towards the thing’s side as Toothless fired a plasma blast and defiantly. 

The queen screamed, stretching out the dusty and very much unused limbs to pursue the annoying gnat of a Night Fury. 

“You think that did it?” Hiccup yelled to no one in particular. He watched in fascinated horror as the thing rose steadily into the air after him. “Well, it can fly!” Toothless swerved about some rocks, but the Red Death only smashed through them. “C’mon Toothless,” Hiccup urged. “Time to disappear!” 

With that Toothless angled himself upwards and shot into the clouds, the queen following close behind. “Here it comes!” Hiccup yelled, quickly clicking the tail so they could dodge the jet of flame. In a heartbeat they were out of range. Once up there, in the thick storm clouds, a black dragon was impossible to see, so the queen had to beat her wings furiously and attempt to spy its enemy. Its jaws snapped uselessly as the clouds and smoke mixed into one. 

A purple bold smacked into the queen’s wing as something sped past, disappearing into the shadows once more. 

A spin and a dive from Toothless and another blasted the other wing. 

Three more shots, all directed at its wings, all hitting with such precision that the larger dragon was forced to twist to stay in the air. 

With another roar the queen finally lost her temper, shooting out a sheet of flames. She shook her head so that the sky itself seemed alight. 

“Watch out!” Hiccup cried, clinging to Toothless’ saddle, but the flames caught the prosthetic tail even despite their maneuvers. “Ok,” Hiccup murmured. “Times up. Let’s see if this works.” He pulled Toothless into an upwards swoop, then they shot past the Red Death once more. “C’MON!” he yelled as the flew past the Red Death. “THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?!” 

Toothless dove, speeding down, down towards the sea. Hot on their tail was the queen, growling deep in her throat and readying another spurt of fire. 

“Stay with me buddy,” Hiccup’s voice shook in desperation. “We’re good, just a little bit longer. . .Hold Toothless. . .” he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “NOW!” 

Toothless spun so he was falling with his back (and Hiccup) to the ground, firing a single plasma blast into the open maw of the queen. 

Flames appeared in the queen’s mouth, but rather than spewing out in fiery destruction they went inwards, burning her from the inside out. Holes appeared and burned through her wings as her eyes widened in panic. The monstrous dragon crashed into the ground with an explosion worthy of a volcano, flames spurting up and around her. 

Toothless had extended his own wings and ridden the slipstream from her mouth up and above her head, but the back spines proved harder to navigate than Hiccup had anticipated, especially with a burning tail. Hiccup desperately kicked his foot in the stirrup, panicking as he looked up to see the huge tail looming right in front of them. “No. . .NO!” 

Shouting, of course, did nothing to stop the ineviteable. Boy and dragon smacked into the tail, Hiccup falling out of the saddle, unconcious. He and Toothless plunged into the flames. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

“We are here today,” Stoick said, standing at the table in the Great hall. “To mourn the loss of my son, Hiccup horrendous Haddock the Third,” he spoke calmly, not betraying his grief to the villagers. “And to discuss his death.” 

Hushed whispers occaisonally broke out among the people, but no one dared speak up. 

“He was carried off by a Night Fury,” Stoick continued. “A dragon that nobody- myself included – believed he had actually shot down, even though he told us. Even though he told us.” he repeated softly. “It cannot, and will not, be a repeat mistake.” he straightened up. “TO HICCUP!” he bellowed, raising his mug. 

“TO HICCUP!” echoed the crowd, swallowing the drink. 

“The final test will be held a week from now,” Stoick announced, feeling the need to get out of there. “That is all.” the group dispersed, except for Gobber. 

“Alrigh’ out with it.” Stoick gestured with his mug at the other man. 

“Are ye doin’ alrigh?” Gobber asked, sitting down heavily next to him. 

“I’m fine, Gobber.” Stoick muttered. “And what of yourself?” 

“This isn’t abou’ me, Chief,” Gobber retorted. 

“Yes, it is.” Stoick leaned back and looked him in the eye. “You were as much of a father to him as I was. More, even.” he acknowledged with a sigh. 

“Wha’ sorta nonsense is that?” Gobber exclaimed, slamming his mug-hand down on the table. “Yer his dad, he loved ya, ya yak-brained goose.” 

“How would you know?” Stoick roared. 

“Why d’ya think he shot down tha’ blasted dragon? Why d’ya think he tried his hardest in tha’ ring?” Gobber shouted right back. “He was tryna get you to pay attention to him!” 

“Oh my gods,” Stoick whispered, laying his head on the table. “I messed up, I-I should’ve told him before- I just-” he felt something wet on his cheeks and realized he was crying, crying as he hadn’t in years. 

Gobber patted him awkwardly on the back and sighed. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Hiccup felt things before he saw them. He felt gravel and something leathery, which was mildly confusing. Then he began smelling things, like sweat and dirt and maybe blood? Waves crashed along the shore somewhere nearby, and that was when he realized he could hear. He forced his eyes to open, seeing nothing but blackness. “Oh gods,” he said aloud. “I’ve gone blind.” 

Then the darkness shifted and Hiccup was unceremoniously dumped onto the gravel he had felt beneath him, and he realized that he could see the sky. “T-toothless?” he asked, hardly daring to hope. 

A rumble answered him. The black dragon circled around so that he was facing the teen, tilting his head and smiling. 

“Hey buddy,” Hiccup said softly. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. He was still on Dragon Island, but the mountain was in smithereens and the ground scorched. He started to stand up, then paused. With dread he looked at where his left leg should be, seeing only a burned stump. He stared at it for a moment, then looked back at Toothless, who bumped him gently with his head. “Well,” Hiccup chuckled dryly. “I guess we match now, hey bud?” He reached out for the dragon, sho shoved his head under Hiccup’s arm. “Let’s go figure this out. I wonder. . .” he hopped along, leaning on Toothless the whole way. 

After a few minutes of searching he found it: the (extremely beaten up) remains of his pack. None of the food was salvagable, which was “A shame, I’m starving.” as Hiccup put it. His waistcoat was charred black and his fishing hooks were melted, but somehow his knife had survived. “Remember this thing bud?” he asked Toothless, showing it to the dragon hilt first. 

Toothless snorted and slapped Hiccup with one of his horns. “Alright, alright,” Hiccup laughed. “Point taken. But it’s gonna help us get out of here.” his stomach growled. “How long has it been anyways?” he squinted up at the sky. The sun was just rising, but Hiccup had a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t just the next morning. “Welp, we don’t have time to lose.” he sat down after finding a dead branch. 

His project took about an hour, but after that time had passed he had a sort of peg leg, with a notch to he could control the half of Toothless’ tail. “Alright bud, let’s give this a shot,” he said, taking a few ginger steps forward. The leg didn’t give as much as it should have, but Hiccup decided to cut his losses and take it. “Should get us somewhere, anyway. Somewhere we can get a better one.” he told Toothless, climbing onto the dragon’s back. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Astrid and the other kids sat around their table on the third day after Hiccup’s ‘death’. No one was in a particularly good mood, even the twins had stopped their normal bickering habits in favor of silence and thought. 

“It’s really a shame he died, y’know,” said Snotlout at long last. “He was one of my best friends. I always believed in him-” 

“That’s yak dung, Snotlout, and you know it!” Fishlegs burst out, glaring at him. “You didn’t start likeing him until he did good in the arena!” 

“Yeah? Well-” 

“Both of you!” Astrid slammed her fist into the table. “Stop it!” the two boys looked at her in surprise. “Hiccup is –was,” she corrected herself. “-All of our friend. Doesn’t matter when you started getting along.” 

“Since when were you two friends?” Snotloud scoffed. “You were all mad at him about winning in the arena.” 

Astrid’s eyes flashed. “We made up.” 

“When?” he challenged. 

“Right before he was carried off.” she glowered at him. 

“Yeah right,” he snorted. “What’d you do, kiss him?” 

Astrid hesitated. “Yes.” 

Snotlout’s jaw dropped. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

“Oog,” Hiccup groaned. They had been flying for hours, judging from the stars that now dotted the sky. “I wonder if we’re ever gonna find someplace.” 

As if on cue, they passed over an island that was dotted with multi-colored cloth roofs, almost like- 

“A market!” Hiccup said excitedly as he and Toothless came to a rather rough landing. “There’s sure to be something here- wait.” he looked at Toothless. “Bud, you need to stay here, alright? I can’t let anyone see you.” 

Toothless looked pleadingly up at him. “Don’t give me that look,” Hiccup scolded. “It’ll only be a couple hours at most. And I’ll bring back food.” 

It was really that last addition that convinced the dragon to let the boy alone. Toothless jumped into a tree and hung upside down like a bat. Hiccup watched him, then turned and walked towards the main street. 

The first thing he did was swap his knife for some coins. It was worth a surprising amount, enough to get Hiccup some bread and fish. He then headed towards the more miscellaneous booths, hoping to find a smith or someone else willing to give him a leg. 

There just so happened to be a booth selling body parts, nobody really knew where they came from or whose they were. But the owner of the booth made a lot of money off of it. With the way people talk about the Owner one would’ve thought they were dark and murderous - no, no they were a warm southerner seeking money to buy sweet tea. 

“Hey, hon! A leg? Do you want it to be outrageously green, purple or a similar skin tone to your own?” Greeted the warm southerner, smiling brightly. “oooh... sorry, sweetie, we’re all out of skin tone ones. Green or purple?” 

“What?” he asked, startled. “Um. . .green?” 

“Green! A wonderful choice. Now, follow up question’: d’ya want it to be human looking or actually human? I’ve got a couple’a human lookin’ ones layin’ around.” They flashed a smile and got a couple legs down from somewhere in the booth, coming back with an assortment of green legs. 

“Wait, are you selling literal body parts?” Hiccup finally got it. 

“Y’really don’t want to know.” They replied, smiling innocently. “You wanted a leg. I deliver you a leg.” 

"Well, the record would show I'm not at all good with human ones, so uh. . ." he coughed. "Look, you seem. . .nice, but do you know where i could get like. . .a metal one?" 

“Oh, you want metal?” They made a face. “Should’a said something, honey! I got lotsa metal.” 

"You do?" he looked hopeful. "That'd be great!" 

“A’course I do, sweetheart!” They waved Hiccup back, opening a tiny gate thingy covered in flowers. “Now I might need a head or something as payment...“ The Owner said, in a perfect deadpan. 

Hiccup gawked. “A, uh, a head? I don’t have a spare one of those. . .” 

“Oh god you really are an idiot.” She muttered, “That was sarcastic, darling.” 

Hiccup sighed, remembering the days when he was considered the most sarcastic person on his island. He shook his head. “Oh, uh, alright then. What do you want for one?” 

“How much do you have?” She asked, taking a second to think about how much she needed for tea for a week. 

". . .that's a very good question." he said, counting through the money he had left. "Um. . .about twenty Penda?" 

“I’ll take ten of those. Only because I’m charitable. And you look like you really need help, doll.” The Owner sighed, shaking her head. 

Hiccup stood on one leg, displaying his crappy wooden replacement. "Well, yeah, just a little bit. Thanks!" he passed the money over after regaining his balance. 

“DARLIN’ GET ME SOME TEA-“ she yelled at nobody in particular, then turned back to Hiccup with a bright smile. “You’re welcome. And don’t come back. You really don’t belong here. Honestly I thought you’d have more...” she poked his arm, where muscle should be, “That.” 

"Hey!" he protested. "That's rude. Also entirely fair. Honestly you're not much better off." he muttered. 

She decked him right in the face, smiling the entire time. “Doll, I don’t take kindly to insults down in this part’a the market. Alright? Alright. I’m the only one allowed to give them. Also, you have a very punchable face.” 

Hiccup fell over and lay there like a dead thing. 

The Owner shrieked, panicking slightly. “You’re valid.” She mumbled, then went back to drinking her tea that she was just brought. 

He groaned and started to roll over. "I just got out of a coma, why?" 

“You have a very punchable face.” She repeated. 

"That," he pushed himself to his feet. "Is deeply insulting, though I know at least one person that agrees with you." 

“I’m never wrong.” She said smugly, then shrugged and dipped her tea. “I’m wrong a lot of the time but for entertainment reasons I’m never wrong.” 

"Right," Hiccup had decided she was weird again. "Well, i gotta go. . .thanks? I think?" 

You’re welcome, sweet pea!” She replied, Southern Charm™ showing all over her face. “Thank y’for the tea, by the way, very good tea,” 

Hiccup waved with one hand and pulled the leg on with the other, nearly falling over in his haste to get back to Toothless.


	3. Free. . .ish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hate titling things, can't you tell?

“So, what do we do now?” Hiccup asked absentmindedly, picking at the grass in front of him. He had opted to camp on the far side of the island, away from the markets. Toothless rumbled something, which wasn’t very helpful, seeing as Hiccup couldn’t speak dragon. “Ok so, so far we’ve defeated a huge, scary, dragon and made sure that Berk isn’t going to be attacked anymore, so that’s a win. . .I think we did it bud. We’re free.” he took a deep breath. 

Then Toothless bopped him on the head and knocked him onto the sand. 

“Wha- hey, what was that for?” Hiccup objected, hopping to his feet and dusting the sand off. He misjudged his step, however, and nearly fell right back down. Toothless managed to shove his head under Hiccup’s arm, catching the idiot. Toothless snorted and scooted backwards, only to sit down and stare at Hiccup. 

“Bud, we did it! Don’t you see? Berk is free, and I am too!” he laughed, then repeated softly; “I’m free.” 

Toothless just started at him. Suddenly he charged at Hiccup and shoved him so that he landed on his back. 

“What the-” Hiccup cut himself off and situated himself in the saddle. “Toothless, wh-where do you think you’re taking me- AUGH!” his sentence ended in a shout as the Night Fury took off. “Toothless!” 

The dragon harrumphed at him, not stopping. Hiccup had no choice but to hang on and help steer as he was carried east and a little south, through the fog bank and finally to the Viking statues that welcomed people to Berk. 

“Oh, no, no, no.” Hiccup groaned. “Toothless, you can’t be serious, we just left! What d’you think they’re gonna do, give us a hug and welcome us back? I’m supposed to be dead, not alive with a dragon and a prosthetic leg! And said dragon is a Night Fury, for Thor’s sake!” he waved his arms in frustration. 

In response, Toothless swung around the coast, soaring over the woods and landing in the cove. 

“And what exactly does this accomplish, Mr. I’m-so-smart?” Hiccup grumbled, getting off and taking a few steps towards the rocks. He started to take a seat, but before he could something snapped over his leg with a clang. “Woah! Wh-what the- why-oh gods.” he stared at the metal jaws holding the prosthetic. “Is this- this is a dragon trap. That’s why you wanted me to come back.” 

Toothless chortled at him, nudging the trap. Hiccup sighed and took off his leg so he could undo the trap sitting down. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve made your point. So, we take the dragon traps down, then we leave, yes?” The dragon rumbled and smiled. Hiccup copied him, just for the fun of it. 

The trap snapped open and Hiccup quickly removed his leg. “Guess that’s one upside to a fake one, hey bud?” he hummed an old tune to himself as he fiddled with the mechanisms, trying to figure out exactly how it worked. “So, I suppose you want me to take all the traps down? Or like, disable them?” 

Toothless nodded and hiccup laughed a little. “Alright bud, you win. After that, we leave though, alright?” ‘eh-eh-eh' was what the dragon had to say about that, and Hiccup took it as an agreement. 

“Ok, I think I’ve got it.” Hiccup stood and re-attached his leg. “This-” he pointed. “Goes here-” more pointing. “-And clicks into there-” a snicking noise. “And that releases it! Now we just need to go activate all the ones in the woods.” 

Toothless jumped, startled. He stared at the small human boy. 

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Hiccup told him. “I suppose you’ve got a better idea?” 

A few hours later Hiccup wished he had had a better idea. 

“That was what, number fifteen there, bud?” he sighed as he extracted his leg. Toothless whacked him in the head with his tail. “Ow! What was that? You’re the one who wanted to disable these! You’re not exactly helping much either.” he grumbled. “Up in the trees all the time.” 

Actually, Hiccup preferred Toothless in the trees. If the villagers came to the woods to check their (now disabled) traps, they would see his tracks, which was fine, because nobody would recognize his new leg’s print. But if human prints were accompanied by a dragon’s. . .well, that would cause a panic and quite possibly a manhunt. Both things Hiccup wanted to avoid, the panic for the Berkians’ sake and the manhunt for his own. And Toothless’, of course. 

“Ay, that should be about it,” Hiccup dusted his hands off as Toothless tilted his head. “Gobber said there were only the fifteen, so. . .Berk is free! We can go now-- oh come on! Toothless!” for as soon as Hiccup mentioned leaving the dragon bounded off, conveniently in the one direction Hiccup hoped never to go again: towards the village. 

“Toothless! Toothless, come back!” Hiccup tore through the underbrush in pursuit. “We can’t go there! I’m still supposed to be dead! And you’re the one that carried me off!” 

Toothless just chortled in response and kept right on going, only skidding to a stop when he was in front of the arena. 

“Oh,” was all Hiccup could really say. “Yeah, we might wanna. . .get those.” he took a quick look around, didn’t see anyone, and slipped under the gate. Toothless stood guard outside. “You were giht though bud,” he said as an afterthought. “We can’t leave Astrid to kill them, not after she saw what you guys are really like.” 

“C’mon, you guys can come out,” Hiccup told the Zippleback as they hesitantly “Go wait by the door." Hiccup made a mental note to question his talking to dragons like they were people. 

He did the same with the Nadder, the Gronkle, and the Nightmare, leading the lot of them to the door. He wriggled back under and was about to pull the lever to open it when-- 

“Hiccup?” asked a disbelieving voice. 

“Oh Thor,” Hiccup froze. He slowly turned around. “Uh, hi, Astrid, hi Astrid. . .what brings you here, so late at night?” 

“I could ask you the same thing,” she crossed her arms. “You said you were going to leave. You can’t be here; you’re supposed to be--” 

“Dead! I know, I know, it’s all so messed up--” he ran a hand through his hair. “Toothless wanted me to- and I had to- Couldn't just-” he gave up and just shrugged. “I had to free the dragons.” he said simply after a minute. “I couldn’t leave them to be killed, and- and I couldn’t leave you to kill them.” 

“You’ve really messed up,” she said softly. “They’ll definitely notice this. There’s no missing it.” 

“I know,” he stared at the floor. 

“You lost your family, your tribe, your best friend. . .” she looked at him. 

“Thank you for summing that up.” 

“Why didn’t you –No offense, Toothless—kill him when you saw him?” she asked quietly. “Any of the rest of us would have.” Surprisingly enough, Toothless posed no objection. “. . .So why didn’t you?” 

“I don’t know.” he mumbled. 

“That’s not an answer.” 

“I just couldn’t.” still looking at the ground. 

“But why?” 

“Why is this so important to you?” he exploded, finally looking up at her. 

“Because I want to know what you have to say. Right here, right now.” 

“Oh, for Thor’s sake- I was a coward! I was weak! I was stupid! I wouldn’t kill a dragon!” he waved his arms about. 

“You said ‘wouldn’t’ that time.” she noted. 

“For the love of- does it matter? Seven generations and I’m the first Viking who wouldn’t kill a dragon!” 

“First to ride one though.” 

He looked her in the eye. “Y-yeah, I guess so.” 

“So what are you gonna do about it?” 

“Eh, probably something stupid.” a small smile, nothing more. 

“Yeah, well, you’ve already done that.” 

“Then something crazy.” and there was the plan-smile, the I’m-gonna-turn-the-world-upside-down smile. “C’mere.” he hopped over to the Nadder, not bothering with his prosthetic. 

“Hiccup! What happened to your leg?” she half-yelled. 

“What, don’t you like my upgrade?” seeing that she wasn’t laughing, he dropped his grin. “I lost it fighting the Red Death—I like that name for it, so that’s its name now—it's alright, really, just. . .taking some getting used to.” he half-smiled before giving a sharp whistle, attracting the Nadder’s attention. “Anyways,” he held out his hand for Astrid’s. 

“Shouldn’t you ask me to dinner first?” she teased. 

Hiccup turned bright red. “I uh. . .that’s not what I--” 

“I know, genius.” she swatted his arm. “Now do the hand thing.” 

Muttering under his breath, Hiccup did so. After the Nadder calmed a bit he motioned Astrid forward, and gently took her hand and placed it over his own. A moment later he pulled his away, leaving Astrid and the Nadder face to face. 

“. . .Woah.” Astrid whispered. “But Hiccup, you know I can’t have my own dragon--” 

“I know,” he said quickly. “But I can’t- I can’t just leave Berk alone, Astrid. Toothless got that point across, hey bud?” Toothless snorted. “Right. But if you have a dragon, you can come get me if things go south, or—or even protect them yourself, but only if something goes really, really wrong.” his face was hopeful, like this really would solve his and everyone else’s problems. 

Astrid sighed. “You make a good point, dragon boy. Just- promise me it won’t go wrong.” 

He laughed shortly. “Nah, a fifteen-year-old living with dragons twenty-four seven won’t go wrong.” 

“Enough sarcasm,” she huffed. 

“What? No, I’m not gonna go wrong, it’s here I’m worried about.” he grinned and hopped on Toothless. “Till next time m’lady.” 

“Later, Haddock.” she shook her head and turned to go. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Four days later Astrid found herself outside the same gate once more, but rather than a hushed silence there were cheers from the assembled Vikings. Cries of ‘Astrid!’ from the other kids mingled with the shouts of ‘HOFFERSON!’ from her family, and the rest of the tribe was just screaming tips and tricks, things they themselves had learned in their youth. 

None of this would help Astrid, of course, but she had to admit, the support felt good. 

She took a deep breath and entered the arena, keeping her gaze locked on the door that she knew the Monstrous Nightmare was supposed to be behind. Sure enough, the latch lifted, but the doors weren’t flung open by a flaming brute of a dragon as the crowd expected. Rather, they stayed stationary. No roars, no growls, no nothing. The cheers faltered uncertainly. 

“Ach, mebe the brute’s asleep.” Gobber yelled above the din. “Ah’ll go get ‘im up.” he clunked his way to the doors of the pen. “Alrigh’, ya beastie, time to prove the Hofferson strength--” he stopped midsentence and gaped at the empty room. “Wha’ in tha’ name o’ Thor’s hairiest knickers?!” 

Murmers of “What?” “When did-” and, most common, “How?” rustled through the spectators. 

“Gobber!” Stoick shouted. “What is this?” 

Gobber just spread his arms out in an I-don't-know gesture. 

Stoick sighed. “Everyone to tha’ Great Hall!” he sounded so done with everything that the villagers followed without a sound. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

“So clearly,” Stoick wrapped up his speech. “Someone freed those dragons,” he glared at the crowd, not singling anyone in particular out, it was more just to make his anger clear. “An’ whoever it is, is out there. I don’t think it was any of you lot,” he clarified. “I’m simply sayin’ tha’ there’s someone runnin’ ‘round freein’ our enemies, and I don’t think that’s an acceptable thing to have happenin’.” 

Angry shouts of agreement; insults directed at the vigilante, whoever they might be. Stoick held up a hand for silence. “We will track him down if ever he meddles with us again! Ay?” 

“AY!” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Back at the cove, Hiccup was poking holes in things. 

To be fair, it was methodical. It had a purpose. Sewing and making clothes was definitely productive, but Toothless seemed confused by his boy just sitting and poking. Hiccup had laughed the dragon off, but hurried his stitches, nonetheless. “There bud,” he held up his creation. “Whaddaya think? Nice?” 

Toothless sniffed at the cloak. It was black cloth and had a little mask made of dark leather, with little clips that would attach to places on Hiccup like his wrists and ankles to prevent air resistance. It would be perfect as a disguise, and for the cold Archipelago nights. “I like it, and you’re a dragon, so your fashion opinions don’t count.” he scratched under Toothless’ chin and smiled. “Ready to go?”


	4. Johann

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He walked through the marketplace, stopping in front of the body parts booth. He looked a lot different, what with the cloak and mask. Not to mention the arm guards that held several tools, the knife and compass now had the start of a map and a pouch to accompany them. “Hello?” he knocked tentatively on the top of a table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the Southern Owner turns up again and otherwise idk

Despite asking if Toothless was ready, Hiccup was not ready at all. He had a lot more leather to work with, and he had no desire to carry it all over the Archipelago. “What am I going to do with it?” he wondered aloud, spreading it out on the rock. 

Toothless bounded over to a bush and rustled around in there for a minute before gliding back. He dropped a knife—Hiccup's knife—at his human’s feet and then bowed like a dog ready to play. 

“Oh, yeah bud, thanks, that’s really. . .that’s really helpful. Where, exactly, do you want me to put this?” Hiccup asked toothless, holding out the sheathed dagger. “I don’t have a belt anymore.” Toothless grabbed his arm with his gums. “Ew! Toothless, that’s gross!” Hiccup hastily jerked his arm back and shook it. The slobber was persistent and only flung off the excess, leaving a slimy coating. “Bud, that’s not gonna wash out! Eurgh!” he flicked a bit at Toothless, who snorted. “Although, I have to admit, a sheath right on my arm would be pretty cool.” 

The dragon sighed and dropped completely to the ground, nudging the knife onto the leather. “You. . .want me to make an arm guard sheath. I’ve just got to make some straps. . .maybe it can attach to the cloak clips. . .ooh, maybe I can add, like a compass to the other arm—they've obviously got to match--” 

“When did it get dark?” Hiccup blinked up at the sky. “It’s only been—five hours. I spent five hours on a fashion upgrade. Well then.” He got to his feet and stretched. “We should get going, bud. Can’t stay forever.” he took a step and was pleased that he didn’t falter on his left leg. 

He was slightly less pleased to discover that the metal bit had several dents, and the wooden part—where it was stuck on his stumpy bit—had chips taken out of it. He sighed. “Guess that’s what I get for stepping into traps on purpose. I wonder if I can get another. Or even a few spares, just rotate them out and have them repaired every few months. Save some time.” his face fell. “We’re out of money. Any more ideas in that head of yours?” 

As always, the Night Fury did have one of those, and he walked over to the bush again, pulling off a branch before returning to drop it at Hiccup’s feet. “You, Toothless, are a genius.” Hiccup told him, shoving the flowers into a pouch. “They’re gonna love this.” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hiccup tugged his hood up and pulled the mask bit on. “Well, what do you think bud?” 

Toothless, tired from having flown a ridiculous distance without a break, yawned and blasted the sand, circling a few times before lying down. “Alright, alright.” Hiccup’s voice was muffled. “See you in a bit.” 

He walked through the marketplace, stopping in front of the body parts booth. He looked a lot different, what with the cloak and mask. Not to mention the arm guards that held several tools, the knife and compass now had the start of a map and a pouch to accompany them. “Hello?” he knocked tentatively on the top of a table. 

The Owner has been yelling at the same person about buying them the wrong kind of tea for half an hour. She isn’t happy today. “Oh ‘s you again! Why the heck’re you here?!” She glared at him, letting the other unfortunate soul go. They smelled the tea and brightened. “Tea! You absolute sweetie! Thank you!!” 

He took a step back in surprise. "I, uh, how did you know about the tea?" 

“I can smell tea leaves from a mile away. It’s a superpower, really.” They said with a shrug, chuckling a little.“No, they have a really strong scent. Sometimes.” 

“Like when it’s been in a small compartment for a really long time I suppose,” he shrugged. 

“Eh. Sure.” They shrugged as well. “Well. What d’ya want?” 

"You know that leg you gave me? Can you make a couple more? Or repair the one?" 

“I can make one, sure. Gimme Gimme.” They made grabby hands at the leg. 

"That's still on my foot--" he stumbled backwards and fell. "Why do you do this to me." 

They fell over laughing, “‘cus it’s funna’, luv,” 

"You're mocking a cripple," he couldn't help smiling a little bit, not that you could tell, what with his new mask. "That's what you're doing." 

“Does it look like I care?” They deadpanned, standing and brushing themself off before helping him up. “No. No it does not. Because. I. Am. Scary. Understood?” Asked the short, five-foot-five, scrawny woman, who had their arms crossed with an undeniably immature smile on their face. 

"No, no not really." he brushed himself off and handed her his leg. "Hey, wait. Am I. . .? I am! Yes!" he threw his hands in the air. 

They find another leg, then throw it across the market for somebody else to bring back later. “I’m scary!” They still had the immature smile on their face. “Really. Really. Scary. And why are y’ so excited ova’ there?” 

"Sure," he laughed for real, then used his hand to measure his height against hers. "I'm taller than you!" 

“NO!” She pouted, “Im making your leg freaking short because of that.” 

"You can't--I'll only be lopsided, not actually shorter!" he was still laughing at her. "I'm not taller than anybody on my island! This is- this is great! 

“I’ll do it.” She deadpanned, pouting. “Watch me.” She grabbed the leg and cut it in half, also laughing. “oOpS,” mocked the owner, smirking a little. 

"Hey!" he protested. "Fine then, no tea!" 

The leg got thrown at his head, barely missing. “Hey!! You can’t do that! No tea, no leg, ‘s simple. Tea first. Then I’ll fix your freaking leg.” 

"Half the tea now, half after I get my legs." he was imitating his father's bargaining tactics. "And watch it. I don't need you knocking me out like last time." 

“You said no tea.” She said matter of factly. “And no, all the tea now so I can work.” 

"What is it with you and tea?" he asked, shaking his head. "And no, but it's really good Berk tea. . ." 

She raised an eyebrow, “Berk Tea?” Going to grab the tea, she maintained eye contact while speaking slowly. ”I can work with that. Gimme.” 

He tossed half at her. ". . .why are you talking like that?" 

“Because I’m about to stab something and I only half want it to be you.” She shrugged, catching it and starting on some tea, then going to fix his leg. Hiccup quickly drew his hand away and hopped a short distance to wait on a nearby bench. 

After about another hour of banter and punching, Hiccup finally had his leg repaired, plus two spares. He walked with his head down and hood up through the markets, bumping into older Vikings and having to restrain himself from apologizing. One man didn’t just go past with the crowd however: he followed right behind Hiccup. 

Hiccup quickened his pace. The only weapon he had was his knife; and that wouldn’t do him any good in a fight with a larger person. Not to mention he was completely useless at hand-to-hand combat. “Hello, hello?” the man called after him. Hiccup ducked into a baked goods stall and began to order things. He got some regular bread and a few breadsticks. 

“Hey, how ol’ are ya?” the woman running the stand asked, squinting at him. “Ya don’ look a day ov’r thirteen.” 

“I am several years over that,” he lowered his voice, glancing over his shoulder at the man who was watching. He was surprised to see that the man looked. . .excited? “I, uh, the uh, mask makes me look younger. Yeah.” he nodded and slid over the last of his money. 

This seemed to satisfy the lady, who nodded back and turned her back as a signal for Hiccup to leave, which he did. Another man—not the one following him to begin with—stepped in front of him, blocking his path. “Oh, uh, hi,” Hiccup stammered. “I was just- just gonna go through here-” 

“Yeh,” he smiled down at him, and Hiccup’s momentary mood boost from being taller than the Tea Person vanished. “I know that.” 

“So, uh, could you- could you just move a little to the left-” 

“No.” he kept smiling. “It that bread you’ve got there?” 

Hiccup blinked. Getting his lunch stolen was supposed stop once he laft Berk. “What, this?” he raised the bag of food. “No, this-this is cooked dough.” 

“It’s the same thing!” he growled, smile disappearing in a flash. “I don’t appreciate sarcastic, scrawny runaways.” 

“I-” he thought about denying at least one of those things, then realized he couldn’t. “Well, you’re a man of horrible taste, really.” 

The man snorted and grabbed for the bag, and then several things happened at once. The follower screamed, which in turn caused the man to try and turn towards him. He was, however, still lunging towards Hiccup, who stumbled backwards and clutched his bread to his chest. The man fell as the follower yelled: “Young man, I say, take the breadsticks and run!” 

Hiccup did just that, caring not that his hood fell back down to his shoulders. The wind whipped though his hair. He only looked back once, only to see the man rolling to his feet and limping away in the opposite direction. The follower had gone; Hiccup didn’t know where. 

Panting, he skidded to a stop in the clearing where he had left Toothless. “Toothless? Hey-hey bud, it’s time to go. . .” his voice trailed off and he stared at the center of the clearing. 

“Hello, young master,” the following man stood and bowed. “I do not know your name, though you remind me of a young lad back on a distant island! I hope that you are not him, however, seeing as he is dead, and it would be quite inconvenient if you were merely an apparition, would it not?” 

“I-” Hiccup couldn’t process all that. “You- what, no, you gotta go-get out of here- quick-” he was cut off by a loud thud behind him. “Oh no,” he whispered, not daring to look behind him to where Toothless had just jumped back out of his tree. 

“-And then I said to him,” somehow, he was still talking, prattling on about another island entirely. “-And he said-NIGHT FURY!” he screamed, falling to the ground as if struck. “GET DOWN!” 

Toothless tilted his head at the man in the dust. He trotted up and sniffed his ear, and the man’s form went limp. Toothless jumped back, bumping into Hiccup and knocking him over as well. “Toothless! Oh, my gods,” Hiccup rolled over and knelt next to the man. “Did you kill him?” 

Toothless shrugged and began to walk off. “Woah woah woah!” Hiccup said, looking up from where he had been checking the man’s pulse to ascertain that he was not, in fact, dead. “Get back here! We’ve got to fix this!” 

The man groaned and opened his eyes, and since Hiccup had moved away from him to go chase Toothless he saw only sky. “Well, no one sees a Night Fury and lives to tell the tale, I suppose. It is too bad though; I had that meeting with the king of Kuum Bay Au in a few weeks, and I’m afraid the Timbuktoo peoples will miss me horribly.” 

“I uh, hate to break this to you,” Hiccup walked back over. He had pulled his mask off to better convince Toothless to come back. “But you’re not--” 

“Dead?” he asked dully. “Oh yes, my lad, I am very much dead. No on meets the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself and lives.” he pulled himself to his feet and dusted himself off. “You know that yourself!” he shook Hiccup’s hand while the teen blinked in bewilderment. “Carried off by one at such a young age. . .well, now I can tell you tales of my adventures! ‘Tis the lot of the dead to merely remanence of living, I am afraid. . .” 

“What?” Hiccup pulled his hand back. “I-I’m not dead, and neither are you-” 

“Ah,” he sniffed. “The denial stage. It is better to skip it, young master.” 

“Sir,” Hiccup said very carefully, watching his face. “That Night Fury didn’t kill you. It didn’t carry me off, either.” he whistled, and Toothless leapt gracefully up to watch from his tree. “I, uh. . .I trained him.” 

“You- you what?” his voice faltered, and he glanced nervously at the dragon watching in amusement. “Is-is he quite safe?” he seemed to have no difficulty switching between being dead and being alive, Hiccup noticed. 

“Quite safe,” Hiccup assured him. “That is. . .that is unless I tell him not to be.” he tried for a hard stare. Toothless made a chortling sound deep in his throat, which Hiccup did not really appreciate. “At one word, I can ensure- can make sure-” he swallowed. “That your next death isn’t a misunderstanding.” 

The man gulped. “In that case, my name is Johann, Trader Johann.” he bowed and chuckled nervously. “I offer many services, food and supplies is just one of numerous--” 

“Johann,” Hiccup murmured. “You work with my father.” 

“Then you are Hiccup Haddock, the boy who went missing?” Johann asked, peering at him curiously before finally deciding that yes, the boy before him in the strange un-Vikingly outfit was, indeed, the son of one of the most respected chiefs in the Archipelago. “But your father shall be thrilled! When I tell him-” 

“No!” Hiccup shouted. “You can’t-can’t. . .” he took a deep breath. “There’s a reason everyone thinks I’m dead. I told them that. Well,” he corrected himself as Toothless harumphed in confusion. “I had someone tell them. But that’s not the point.” 

“Well then, what is the point, young master?” 

He fumbled for words. “Look,” he said at last. “I trained a dragon—a Night Fury, what’s more—and faked my way through dragon fight school. I fooled them all into thinking I was a good kid. Thinking I was one of them.” he smiled wryly. 

“Ah, teen angst.” Johann nodded. “Why, when I was a lad, mine own father told me--” 

“Oh, my gods,” Hiccup muttered. “Look, are you going to tell my father or not?” 

“Certainly not,” Johann looked startled. “In fact, I think with the proper deal, I can even help you!” 

Hiccup turned his head slightly to the left, still maintaining eye contact. “You. . .you want to make a deal. With me. While still working with my father, who thinks I’m dead.” 

“Precisely!” Johann clapped his hands and smiled. “I can provide information about what is happening on that lovely island of yours, and in return, you can protect my ships when I need such services!” he pulled a piece of paper out of his tunic and spread it out over a rock. “Berk is right in the center of this map, if anything threatening comes within range of it I will notify you.” 

“And what do you want I return?” Hiccup asked warily. “I don’t have money and I don’t have goods. All I’ve got,” he smiled slightly. “Is my own body, and I don’t even have all or that anymore.” his leg happened to catch the sunlight at that moment, and Johann finally noticed it. 

“Ah,” he said. “But you do have a Night Fury.” Toothless growled. “Or, a, uh, you are friends with a Night Fury.” Toothless humphed and lay down. 

“His name is Toothless.” Hiccup looked Johann directly in the eyes. “And he says we’re not making any deals.” 

“Shame,” Johann sighed, looking at the clouds. “There is a rather dastardly man plotting to take over the Ilse of Berk. . .but you won’t want to hear about that.” 

“Johann,” Hiccup said with gritted teeth. “What do you want me to do for you?” 

“Protection, Master Hiccup. And the occasional errand; sailing does take so long.” 

HIccup smiled wanly. “Alright then. Who’s the dastardly man?” 

“Alvin,” Johann smoothed the map down and pointed at three ships drawn onto it in red ink. “Alvin the Treacherous.”


	5. Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He knew it was stupid: crazy, even. But every time he thought about it, more evidence presented itself. Rarely seen, hides away while other dragons do the work. . .really, it made sense. And then there was the timing. He decided that Hiccup must have fought the Night Fury and killed it. That was why there were no more attacks, the beasts had no commander, no direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on transitioning from the first movie to Riders of Berk, so that's fun.
> 
> At some time in the near future I will be writing the Snoggletog thing; any suggestions on how to make that work woud be great! Send an ask or DM on my tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/blog/mynightfuryblr

Stoick drummed his fingers on the table, thinking. Three weeks, three weeks since his son disappeared, three weeks since a dragon attack. The cause could not be the weather; no, for that had been fairer than it had been since Stoick could remember. It had never been clearer skies nor warmer weather in the history of Berk, and that troubled him. 

Because the only thing he could think of was the Night Fury. 

As soon as it had carried Hiccup off, the attacks stopped. Something had changed then. Something happened, and Stoick was racking his brain, trying desperately to think up an explanation. And there was one theory that he couldn’t shake. 

Night Furies had mind control. 

He knew it was stupid: crazy, even. But every time he thought about it, more evidence presented itself. Rarely seen, hides away while other dragons do the work. . .really, it made sense. And then there was the timing. He decided that Hiccup must have fought the Night Fury and killed it. That was why there were no more attacks, the beasts had no commander, no direction. 

But why hadn’t Hiccup told him? 

‘Easy,’ Stoick thought gloomily. ‘He was trying to prove himself to me. To get a place. To belong.’ he sighed and held an ice block against his head. ‘Well, he’s free now I suppose.’ 

“Cheif?” Gobber walked into the hut. “The newest batch of warriors- they're having a disagreement. Abou’ those traps we found disabled. One wants to track ‘em down, two wanna just leave it ‘lone.” 

“And what of the other two—the Thorston Twins?” 

“They, uh,” Gobber scratched his head with his remaining hand. “They’re jus’ eatin’ yak chops and shoutin’.” 

“’Course they are.” Stoick sighed, putting his ice blocks down. “Well, let’s get going.” He walked out of the hut, Gobber close behind. “Why I the name of Thor can they not just get along? Every new batch. Every time.” he said aloud. 

“Now, ye cannae say we weren’ the same, Stoick.” Gobber chuckled. “Why, I remember ye and old Alvin going at it about ‘most every little thing.” 

Stoick smiled. “Ay, I suppose you’re right. But it’s not like you an’ Spitelout were exactly bosom friends, either.” 

“Spitelout an’ I were better than you two, an’ I think it was because we weren’ ‘bosom friends’.” Gobber snorted. He took a few quick steps, so he was walking even with Stoick. “Somehow, those have a way of makin’ up faster than a Nadder after a fish; it’s the one’s who ain’t tha’ have the problems.” 

“So, what you mean to say is that something needs to be done about the new ones?” 

“Exactly!” Gobber said brightly. “They need ta bond, we need ta give the lot of ‘em some sorta mission. . .quest. . .thing.” 

“Very specific,” Stoick raised an eyebrow. “An’ what exactly would you suggest?” 

“Ach, shuddup.” Gobber grumbled. “Jes fer that, I’m keepin’ my idea righ’ here.” he tapped his helmet. 

“Not like there’s anywhere to keep it.” Stoick laughed and slapped him on the back. “Anyway, what do you think is a good way ta do that?” 

“Send ‘em off for a few days, let ‘em off on their own. . .it’ll be good for ‘em, in the long run.” Holding up his hands before Stoick could interrupt—it was pretty clear he as going to—Gobber continued: “An’ I know what yer thinkin’, Stoick: Tha’ Hiccup went alone--” Stoick flinched, but Gobber kept going. “--But this time, they’ll have each other. They aren’ alone. An’ much as we both loved—love—Hiccup, he was the weir’ one, but turns out tha’ was a good thing.” 

“And I spent most his entire life telling him to stop it.” Stoick growled. “I told him not to be himself, to be like me—and where did that get him, Gobber?” 

“Now, Stoick,” Gobber chided. “Ye cannae blame yerself. It’ll destroy ya. Hiccup didn’t know quite what he was, but these kids do, so use that. They know who they are, an’ you know what to do with ‘em. You know how to handle this sorta thin’.” 

Stoick looked at him for several long moments, then nodded. “Yer right,” he admitted as they walked into the clearing where Astrid and the others awaited. 

“Always am,” Gobber said cheerfully. “Now,” he directed this at the kids. “Wha’ seems ta be the trouble?” 

“There’s dragon scales by the traps, sir,” Snotlout stepped forward and to the side, so he was foremost of the group and so that the nearest of the traps was in the chief and blacksmith’s lines of sight. “Dragon scales,” he clarified, as if this wasn’t clear. 

“O’ ‘course they’re dragon scales, ye daft mutton chop,” Gobber snorted as the twins snickered. “Wha’ kind?” 

“Sir, they’re--” Snotlout was beet-red now, but determined to go on. “They’re Night Fury scales.” 

“Impossible,” Stoick let out his breath with a hiss. “The Night Fury is dead.” 

“Well, obviously it’s not,” sniped one of the twins—was it the boy? Tuffnut?--as the other laughed under their breath. 

“Watch yer mouth, laddie.” Gobber warned him. “We don’ know tha’ for sure, but what we do know is that these traps were taken apar’ by--” 

“Human hands,” Stoick breathed. “Human hands! Gobber, Hiccup wasn’t carried off by a Night Fury, someone has—has trained a dragon.” the last part was scarce more than a whisper. “And killed my boy.” 

“Now, Stoick,” Gobber sounded uneasy. “Ye don’ know that--” 

“Yes!” Stoick said forcefully. “Yes, I do! How else would these traps have been set off, disarmed, then dismantled, Gobber, than by human hands? An’ none of yer dammed goblins,” he added, disgruntled. “Someone’s gone after my son, and did a blamed good job o’ it.” 

“An’ jus’ where does the dragon fit in ta the whole scheme?” Gobber glared at him, partially for the theory, partially for the comment about goblins. “No reason ta involve him jus’ yet.” 

“An’ why else,” Stoick made eye contact with the other man as the teenagers watched in rapt fascination. “Would there be Night Fury scales right by the traps? All ‘o them too, not jus’ one where he was freed. . .no, Gobber, there is a warrior out there training dragons.” 

“Ye mean besides of-” 

“Not his style,” Stoick frowned. “No, this one is more direct, but less confrontational.” 

“Go figure tha’ one ou’.” Gobber muttered, limping his way back to the village with Stoick close behind him, close behind. “A direct con-frontational.” 

“Ach, you know wha’ I meant.” Stoick waved a hand dismissively as he walked into the tavern. He ordered two large mugs of an unknown Viking beverage, sipping slowly at the foam that near spilled over the top. “It’s interestin’, anyway.” 

“Interestin’, yes.” Gobber ordered his own drink, a beer. The bartender simply waited for the mug-arm to be procured and poured it into there. “Question is: What’re we gonna do abou’ it?” 

Stoick shrugged and took a deep drought. “Pro’ly something stupid.” he smiled wryly at Gobber as he passed a couple coins towards the bartender, who nodded. 

“Yeh, well, yeh’ve bin doin’ tha’ since I kin ‘member.” Gobber snorted. He chugged his own drink. “I like this,” a quick glance at the sign from which he had ordered. “Another!” 

“Then somethin’ crazy,” Stoick grinned and downed his last drink. He held out his arm; Gobber grasped his hand and that was that. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Alvin,” Hiccup repeated as he sat next to Johann on one of the rocks. The sun was beginning to set, and Toothless had already laid down for the night. A single owl hooted off in the distance, signalling nightfall. “Alvin the Treacherous, Terror of the Archipelago? The one who apparently used to be best friends with my father? That Alvin?” 

“Yes, Master Hiccup,” Johann didn’t seem to mind having affirmed his original answer the same question repeated multiple times. “The Chief of the Outcast tribe. Horrible smell,” he shuddered at the memory. He adjusted his hat a bit, then fiddled with his sash. “Not a man to mess with lightly, I assure you.” 

Hiccup nodded. “From what I’ve heard, yeah.” He stretched his legs out. Well, leg. The other, unfortunately, was still metal, but Hiccup had learned to hook his good one under it and push them both out. “And he’s headed for Berk.” 

“He is indeed,” Johann agreed. “What are you planning for this particular quandary?” 

“We, uh,” Hiccup fiddled with one of his arm guards, pulling out a compass. He laid it flat on the map, pinpointing the directions from where he was and such. “We need to. . .to intercept the ships before they get there. Shouldn’t be too hard, right bud?” 

Toothless huffed and spread his tail fin so that it covered his face. Hiccup sighed and put the compass away. He started to grab for the map but hesitated. “Are you, uh. . .can I keep this?” Johann nodded, and Hiccup stowed it in the now-empty tea pouch. “Thank you, Johann. For. . .kinda everything.” 

“It is no trouble, young master,” Johann bowed and picked up his satchel. “If ever you are in need of a friendly ship, find me on the endless waves, riding the seas of life, and-” 

“Bye,” Hiccup said quickly, hopping onto Toothless and clicking his leg into place and taking off. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Alvin paced in the bunker. Dragons rammed relentlessly against the walls, but they held firm. Savage was cowering in the corner but trying not to show his fear. Flames spurted through chinks and bars, but otherwise they were in relative safety. A map was tacked to the wall, with Berk colored in red ink. Small smudges of ink were splattered across it. 

“When d’you reckon they’ll give it up?” Savage asked after several minutes. “They’ve been at it for an hour.” He stood and walked tentatively towards his chief, who was still pacing. 

The other man grunted and stopped in front of the map. “I’ve heard that Berk ain’t havin’ troubles with dragons anymore. Our man there says tha’ there’s a. . .” 

“A. . .?” Savage prompted. 

“A dragon conquerer.” 

“Sir! You can’t believe-” Savage shut up quickly upon receiving a glare from Alvin. “I-I mean, it’s highly improbable, very unlikely. . .” His voice trailed off. He froze for a second under the stare of his chief, then pointedly looked at the map. “Where do you suppose he’s holed out?” He ran a finger across the map that showed most of the known Archipelago. “Not on Berk itself, he’d half to be mad, I don’t think that Stoick would allow something like that on his own island.” 

“Won’t be his for much longer,” Alvin grinned. 

Savage grinned back. “Of course not, sir.” 

“I’ll betcha,” Alvin stroked his beard. “I’ll betcha the Conquerer’s off on a deserted island somewhere. Somewhere quiet, where he kin stay away from people an’ practice defeatin’ dragons.” 

“Brilliant, sir!” 

“I thought so,” Alvin smiled smugly before ripping the map off the wall and stalking out of the bunker, punching the Monstrous Nightmare that had been banging against the door on the nose. The dragon shrieked and flew off after the last of it’s friends. “Ready the ships!” Alvin shouted. Men in armor began scrambling all over the docks. A few dragons were being caged, but at a yelled order from Alvin they were turned loose. “Won’t be needin’ those for practice anymore.” He told Savage, who nodded. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Mildew was writing again. Gobber wasn’t quite sure why the old man sat in the Great Hall scrawling for hours on end, but he was sitting across from him and Stoick, and he figured he may as well ask. 

He did, and all he got in reply was a very grumpy: “None of yer business.” 

“I’m the Chief,” Stoick said. “Can it be my business?” 

Mildew’s eyes glinted. “It can, Chief.” He slid the paper across the table to Stoick. “I’m figuring out who the proper heir of Berk is. Family trees an’ all that.” 

Stoick glanced briefly over the paper, scanning the lines and names. “This says it outta be Snotlout Jorgenson.” He raised his eyebrows at Mildew. “How did ya figure that one?” 

“Yer wife was his father’s sister, how d’you think?” the older man sneered. His long fingers tapped at the table, and there was ink on the tips of them. Fungus was, of course, standing right next to him, and staring at Gobber in a way that made him intensely uncomfortable. “The only way tha’ doesn’t involve third cousins. Yeh should’ve had more siblings, Stoick.” 

“I fear that is a topic to be brought before my father.” Stoick raised his eyebrows. “What’s all that on yer fingers?” 

“Ink.” Mildew stated the obvious, as he was wont to do. “But if you’re asking where from, then from making all those notes on yer family tree.” He gestured at the extra lines, which Gobber then realized where in fact n a different, much newer ink. “Took forever, you should thank me.” 

“I’ll thank ye ta mind yer own business.” Gobber retorted before Stoick shot him a quick look. “An’ what d’you think of Snotlout’s leadership capabilities?” was the swift subject change. 

“Ah, he’s useless.” Mildew grumped. “Less so than yer boy, though Stoick, so that’s something-” 

His words were cut off by Stoick slamming a fist on the table and rising to his full height. “Uh oh.” Gobber muttered, but his voice was unheard, for at that moment Stoick shouted: “SAY THAT AGAIN!” 

Mildew also got to his feet, barely leaning on his staff, which was off. “BETTER THAN YOUR BOY!” he shouted right back. Fungus bleated in angry agreement. 

Stoick jumped onto the table, and whoever hadn’t been looking was looking now. “DO NOT DISRESPECT MY SON!” He thundered, glowering at Mildew and Fungus, who only took one step back. “DON’T YOU DARE DO THAT!” 

“We all know he was a disappointment, Stoick!” Mildew yelled back. “Scrawny undersized Haddock that he was, never managed to be any good at anything! I have no idea how he flunked his way through dragon training, much less even so much as found a Night Fury-” 

“HE DIDN’T FLUNK! HE WAS GREAT IN THAT RING!” Stoick’s face started to slowly turn red, beginning with his neck and ears and gradually flowing together so that he was the color of a tomato. “HE DID BETTER THAN EITHER ME OR GOBBER DID, OR ANY OTHER WARRIOR IN ANY GENERATION!” 

“Prove it!” Came the challenge, and Stoick had no response. Vikings weren’t all that good at keeping records other than paintings: books tended to get burned or otherwise destroyed, not on purpose, but as a side effect of Archipelago life. The only one that had managed to survive was, of course, The Book of Dragons, and that was kept in a metal chest in the chief’s cellar. 

“I think he was better.” Stoick said, rage quieting but not disappearing. It merely ebbed, as most tides, emotional or no, are wont to do. 

“Ah, yes, the prejudice of parenthood.” Mildew’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “Makes even the mightiest person blinder than Gothi.” 

Now, a thing about Gothi: She is always there. Watching. Listening. Waiting for the perfect time to smack some unpleasant or rude Viking upside the head with her stick. And there she was; perfectly positioned behind Mildew, who received a particularly nasty whack. 

“What in the bloody name of the great god Thor was that for?!” Mildew shrieked, dropping his own staff and clutching his head. Gothi furiously scribbled something in the dirt, then with one extra-emphasized jab at the ground she stepped back and glared. Mildew squinted at her, then read over the scrawled message. His face paled. He scooped up his staff, muttered “C’mon, Fungus,” and hobbled out. Gothi watched him go in satisfaction, then tapped Stoick lightly on the shoulder with her stick before following Mildew out. 

Gobber had watched the whole exchange with a wide range of emotions: rage on behalf of his best friend and the boy he had helped raise, fear of Stoick doing something rash, willingness to help him in that rashness, and, of course, amusement at the sight of two elders hashing it out. “Well, I cannae say tha’ I can think o’ a better way to ha’e resolved tha’ one.” He said after a minute of watching Stoick brood over the Book. 

Stoick merely grunted in return. “He’s wrong.” 

“I know he is,” Gobber said. “I know he is, becos I spent years trainin’ tha’ boy, and he was the bes’ I’ve seen in the ring, or with levers an’ gears an’ things. Sure, they were faulty, but his brain was workin’ overtime on ‘em.” 

“Ay,” Stoick agreed quietly, flipping a few pages. He ran his finger over the Skrill’s stats, humming an old song under his breath. With a jolt Gobber realized it was the wedding song, and he thought that his heart might just give out right then. 

“Wha’ are ye readin’ abou’ Skrills for?” He asked, rather than adressing song choice. “It’s the Night Fury ye want, yeh?” 

“Yes,” Stoick thumbed over another couple pages. “But there’s not much in the book abou’ those, so I’m lookin’ at the others in its Class.” 

“Ah,” Gobber nodded. “Seems sensible.” He munched thoughtfully on a piece of mutton. “What d’ya pla on doin’, when yeh fin’ the beast?” 

Stoick looked up at him for the first time. “Kill it where it stands.”


	6. Torched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the middle of the night, Hiccup felt a rustle besides him. For a moment, he assumed a cat had merely snuck into the hut again and snuggled his head back into his blanket. Then he remembered himself and where he was and sat up and scrambled backwards. “What the-” A small dragon that Hiccup didn’t recognize was blinking up at him with bright yellow eyes. “Oh. Did you get lonely?” Hiccup reached out to scratch under its chin. “Where’s your flock, anyways?”

It wasn’t hard work, setting up that little make-shift hut, but it took Hiccup several hours. Mostly because he kept pausing to pet the Terrible Terrors that roosted, but also because Toothless had taken up the habit of wrestling with Hiccup. It was almost as if the dragon had decided that Hiccup was a young dragon that needed self-defense lessons. Hiccup appreciated the sentiment, but it was rather distracting. Also, Hiccup sincerely doubted that any of these lessons would prove useful in a proper battle. 

“Toothless, not now,” If anything, the practice had honed Hiccup’s senses. “I see you crouching over there, and I’ve almost got this chunk of the thatching up.” He gingerly laid a pine branch so that the end of the stick was in between tw sticks in the wall, and the needles were propped against the cleft in the cliff wall. He took a step back. “Stone, bud.” A slimy rock was deposited into Hiccup’s palm, and he set it firmly in a row of ones in various states of dryness. Every one of those held down another branch, and the structure was around ten feet long and six feet high made of sticks and mud and leaves and grass. 

“That about does is,” Hiccup took a step back and admired his work. “There’s enough room for you in that cleft, bud, just make sure to be careful when you do your fire thing.” Toothless hopped up and circled a few times, did ‘his fire thing’, and lay down. “How do you like that, huh?” Toothless gargled happily. “Glad you like it,” Hiccup laughed, then ducked inside. 

It wasn’t furnished at all. Not yet. Hiccup was planning to just have a pile of pine needles as a bed and maybe a slap of wood for some semblance of a table. For now, though, pine needles were all that he was adding, and he did so promptly. It wasn’t much, but it was more than he had had for the past. . .huh. Hiccup didn’t know exactly how long it had been since the Red Death. At least a week, maybe two. 

Hiccup pulled some of the bread out of his bag and sat down to eat. He tossed a fish up to Toothless. The sun was setting over the ridge, and the even the Terrors were settling into the trees for the night. Hiccup finished his dinner and crawled into the shelter, after having hauled several armfuls of soft leaves and such in for bedding. He lay on his back, staring at the roof. “Goodnight, bud.” He said after a few minutes, and a few snuffling noises answered him. He rolled over and dozed off. 

In the middle of the night, Hiccup felt a rustle besides him. For a moment, he assumed a cat had merely snuck into the hut again and snuggled his head back into his blanket. Then he remembered himself and where he was and sat up and scrambled backwards. “What the-” A small dragon that Hiccup didn’t recognize was blinking up at him with bright yellow eyes. “Oh. Did you get lonely?” Hiccup reached out to scratch under its chin. “Where’s your flock, anyways?” 

The dragon squeaked at him. Hiccup tried to pick him up, but it shrieked and limped away. Hiccup realized something was up with its leg, so he said: “Here, c’mon, just let me get a look at it.” And scooped the thing up. “What’s going on with this here?” He leaned back and gently took the dragon’s leg. He inspected it, decided it was broken, and took a loose stick and some cloth scraps. A few minutes later, there was a makeshift but sturdy splint on the small one’s leg. “There.” Hiccup put the dragon back on the ground, watching as it took a few steps around and then squawked happily. He laughed. “What are you, anyway? I don’t remember you from the Book of Dragons.” He reached a hand out, and the dragon rubbed his horns under it. 

Suddenly, a black head shoved its way into the hut. “Hello there, Toothless.” Hiccup patted his nose with his free hand. “Look what I found. Or, what found me.” Toothless wriggled so his entire head and part of his neck was inside, then sniffed at the smaller dragon. His lips pulled back in a snarl. “Toothless!” Hiccup admonished, pulling the small one back towards him. “What’s that about?” 

Toothless kept growling. 

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” Hiccup grumped. He ran a hand down the dragon on his lap’s spine. It arched into the touch, making a purring noise. “He’s tiny, and really rather friendly. Be nice.” Toothless huffed and backed out, and Hiccup could hear him settling back down on his ledge. “Sorry about that.” Hiccup told the dragon, but then he realized that it was fast asleep. He smiled and put it in a corner, shoving some of his bedding there so it would have some comfort. “I’ll figure you out in the morning.” 

In the morning, of course, Toothless was up first. The black dragon made obnoxious snuffling noises outside the hut. “’M up, ‘m up.” Hiccup yawned and pulled the blanket off him. He stretched, fingers brushing the pine needles that made up the roof. He blinked blearily at the sun—which, he thought, was far brighter than it needed to be at this early hour—as he crawled out. “Morning, bud. Anything in?” 

As an answer, Toothless barfed up a fish. “Uh, no thanks.” Hiccup grimaced. 

Just then, the small dragon scuttled out of the tent and stole the fish. “Hungry?” Hiccup laughed, munching on a piece of dried meat. Toothless was side eyeing the small dragon, but, as Hiccup thought, at least he wasn’t growling. Another thing that Hiccup thought about was that he was now outnumbered by dragons, and he wondered which one of them was really in charge. 

He hoped it wasn’t him. But, with his luck, it probably was. Chief’s son, and all that. Chief’s dead son, which, whenever he thought about it, was rather funny. 

The small dragon started chasing its tail. “Having fun there?” Hiccup asked. He lay out some fish for Toothless, and another one for the smaller dragon. “Eat up; Toothless and I have got a long day ahead of us.” He patted the Night Fury’s head and walked back to the hut to repack his bag. His plan was to find out where Alvin was and what he was planning on doing. Hiccup didn’t know much about Alvin, save that he had once been a Berkian. There were rumors of his being friends with Stoick, but Hiccup had never thought to ask. 

As soon as Hiccup’s back was turned, the small dragon inhaled the fish. Not just its own, but Toothless’ as well. The Night Fury jerked backwards, eyes wide, then started growling again. Without looking back Hiccup said: “Be nice bud.” Toothless glared at the boy before shuffling off to the other end of the lake. 

The small dragon coughed, hacking up not a hair ball, but a fire ball. Some of the grass caught the flames, and when Hiccup turned back around, what could qualify as a large bonfire was blazing merrily while the small one watched, amused. “Woah!” He shouted, jumping. “Uh, little help here, bud?” He called. Toothless just blinked at him, looking aloof. “Toothless!” Hiccup cried. “What’s gotten into you?!” 

Despite his frustration at both the dragons, Hiccup grabbed the nearest thing to him that would hold water—the sack that he had been packing in—sprinted towards the lake, filled it up, and poured it all over the flames. He did remember to dump out its contents first, something which he was glad for later. “Useless reptiles,” He muttered, kicking dirt over the last glowing remains of the grass. 

Toothless looked affronted that Hiccup had used that name for the small dragon; or, perhaps, that he was getting lumped in with it at all. Hiccup stuck his tongue out at him. Not very mature, no, but satisfying, nonetheless. 

After he was sure the fire was out, Hiccup noticed something. There was a spiral pattern; at least, where he hadn’t kicked dirt over it. He carefully scraped away the dust. Sitting back on his heels, he inspected the design. “You’re a pretty funny little guy, aren’t you?” He murmured, scratching the small dragon absentmindedly. “You just. . .up and torched that. Pretty cool.” Another moment of thought. “I need to call you something. ‘Torch’ seems alright: short and to the point.” A happy purr from Torch. “Alright then, Torch,” Hiccup stood and grinned. “We’re going out, and since I don’t want you burning the place down, you’re coming too!” 

The Night Fury’s head shot up. “Rawr?!” He protested, bounding over to Hiccup’s side. More protests were made, but Hiccup ignored them, packing the bag densely so that there was room for Torch to sit on the top, so long as the lid was up. “You heard me,” Hiccup told him, adjusting the saddle bags. “We can’t just leave him.” Toothless looked as if he strongly disagreed with that statement but allowed himself to be saddled and mounted. “Ready bud?” 

The Night Fury took off, upstretched pine branches brushing the underside of his wings. They flew low to the trees, hoping to avoid being seen. The goal was to find the Outcast ships and then wait until dark to scout them out. Hiccup’s plans, of course, almost never went exactly as they were supposed to, but they always seemed to turn out alright, if not at all in the way expected. Especially with Toothless. 

“Alright, where are you?” Hiccup murmured, scanning the horizon. Sun glared off the water, flashing into Hiccup’s eyes and making sight a problem. Toothless too was looking, looking to the right and left on occasion. The only one not moving was Torch, and Hiccup was pretty sure he was napping. Something to be grateful for, he supposed. 

“How’s it going back there?” Hiccup twisted his head so he could see the open bag. To his horror he didn’t see the little horns sticking up out the top, no tail draped over the edge. “Torch?” He asked nervously. “Torch?” 

A small roar sounded from beside him, and Hiccup whipped his head back around. “There you are,” He said in relief. “You had me worried for a second.” 

A much louder roar echoed the small one. “Uh, wh-what was that. . .?” Hiccup shifted and looked around again. “Ooooh no. Oh no.” 

For following close behind was the largest dragon Hiccup had seen—after the Red Death, of course. It was huge, wings creating new winds with every beat. Its horns were as tall as Hiccup three times over, and it’s mouth was open in a furious snarl. “Oh, jeez.” Hiccup’s breathing quickened. “It looks- it looks like you, Torch.” Toothless growled. “Oooh no. You’re-you’re just a baby, aren’t you?” He asked Torch, a sense of dread rising in his chest. “And that’s your m-mother, isn’t it?” 

The happy little roar answered him. Hiccup grabbed onto the baby dragon as Toothless pulled into a dive. The mother was in hot pursuit, but she was not able to dive or maneuver as fast as Toothless could. Fortunate, really. 

“Get us out of here, bud!” Hiccup screamed, hanging onto Torch with one arm and gripping the saddle for dear life with the other. Another roar; Hiccup could feel the dragon’s breath. It was even worse than when Stoick would breath down his neck, for the dragon’s covered all of him. Toothless made a sharp left, but he growled at Hiccup. “Alright, I’m sorry!” Hiccup yelled. “I should’ve payed attention to you!” The Night Fury grunted an acceptation, then looped upwards over the large dragon’s head. Hiccup let go of Torch, dropping him onto his mother’s back. The small dragon landed with an ‘oof’ noise. Hiccup and Toothless soared past, flying upside-down the whole length of its back. 

“Get us out of here, bud!” Hiccup grabbed onto the saddle with both hands as Toothless swung upwards. The large dragon roared before coasting off to the west, and this time there a tiny roar accompanied it. “Bye Torch!” Hiccup called over his shoulder. Toothless smacked him with one of his horns. “I already apologized, lay off-” 

Hiccup’s sentence stopped, because directly ahead of them were the Outcast ships.


	7. Who needs chapter titles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup had watched the goings-on with increasing anxiety. He watched Snotlout and Astrid run up to defend their tribesmen and women. He watched Stoick leap to protect Astrid. And he thought of himself, hooded, to protect who?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment on what you think about it :)

“Sir! Sir!” Fishlegs screamed, running into the Chief's hut as fast as his short legs would take him. “T-t-there's Outcast ships! By the sea stacks!” 

“How many?” Stoick asked. He rose to his feet. Fishlegs was so frightened because of the sighting that he failed to notice his chief wiping his eyes. “How many are there, Fishlegs?” His voice raised when the terrified boy failed to answer right away. 

“A-at least thirteen, sir,” Fishlegs squeaked. “All really big. Very big.” 

“Get everyone to the Great hall,” he commanded. “I’ll meet you there.” He walked out the door and down the hill barging into the smithy. “GOBBER!” He yelled, and the blacksmith rolled off his bed in surprise. 

“Ye gotta stop doin’ that, Stoick,” He grumbled, picking himself up off the floor. “It’s gonna be tha death o’ me.” He selected a rather rusty hook off his shelf and began screwing it into place. “What’s the deal this time?” 

“Outcasts,” Stoick said. “They’re comin’ for us.” 

“Ye mean Alvin’s finally gone through wi’ his threats?” Gobber raised his eyebrow. “I’m gonna need a differen’ arm.” He grabbed an hammer and put that on instead. “There. I’m assumin’ ye called a meetin’ already?” 

“O’ course I did.” 

“Then le’s not be late.” He began hobbling up to the Great Hall, Stoick close behind. 

The Hall was already filled with villagers; apparently Fishlegs was good at spreading panic. People that were murmuring amongst themselves hushed when their Chief walked in, the large doors swinging shut with a bang behind him. They watched in silence as he took his place at the high table, and as his advisors from the lead families followed him up there. 

Stoick took a deep breath. “As you already know,” He began. “Outcasts are readying an attack as we speak. The have several ships-” 

“Twenty!” Shouted an excited farmer. “I heard twenty!” 

“Well, I heard fifty!” came the call of a fisherman. 

“Fifty?” An incredulous baker added. “That’s ridiculous!” 

More and more shouts broke out, arguing over how many long-ships were coming at them. The numbers somehow gt bigger and bigger, and once someone yelled “AT LEAST A HUNDRED!” Stoick decided to interfere. 

“STOP!” He shouted, and Gobber slammed his hammer hand upon the table. In an instant the only sound was the echo of the hammer’s boom. “There are only thirteen,” Stoick said firmly. “That was the eye-witness' account, and unless someone else is goin’ to step up here an’ say they saw more than tha’ with their own two eyes, tha’s how many we’ve got.” 

Mutters ran about for a minute, but in the end the group shushed itself. 

“Now, what great idea has our chief got for us?” Spitelout asked sarcastically, putting his feet up on the table. 

“We go to the armory,” Stoick said, ignoring Spitelout. “We arm ourselves. We outnumber them; it’s thirteen ships worth against all o’ us.” He pointed to Bucket and Mulch. “You two, take the children to the caves on the east side o’ the island.” The two fishermen began herding the kids into a semi-organized group, but when they attempted to get the just-out-of-training teens objections arose. 

“Let me go with you, sir,” Astrid stepped out of line. “I was trained as a warrior, I can fight!” 

“She may have been trained as a warrior, but I was born one.” Snotloud boasted as he shoved ahead of her. Astrid kicked him behind the knee and stepped back in front. 

“Take this,” Stoick held out a bludgeon. Snotlout reached out, but Stoick handed it to Astrid. “It was Alvin’s, when he was a lad. Take it with you and protect the others in yer group. The rest of us--” He raised his voice so the larger group of adults could hear. “Are goin’ to the armory! Who’s wi’ me?!” 

A united round of shouts arose. They followed Stoick out of the Great Hall, but just as they came within range of the armory, a horrible boom was followed by flames. 

The armory was burning. 

“GET THE WATER BUCKETS!” Stoick shouted. Several warriors sprinted off to find them, but until they returned all that Stoick could do was watch as their entire store of weapons was destroyed. 

“What,” He said through gritted teeth once the flames were conquered. “Happened. Here.” 

“Stoick!” Mildew hobbled over, leaning on his stick. “I saw a Night Fury! Flyin’ away from the armory! I hope I’m not too late-” He paused and took in the armory, which was still smoking. “I see I am. What a shame, an’ with Outcasts on our shores!” 

Uneasy murmurs ran through the crowd. “Silence!” Stoick shouted for what felt to be the millionth time that day. “New plan. Sven, Hildagard, Magnus-” The list of names ran through about fifteen people. “-You’re with me. Everyone else, go with Mulch and Bucket.” 

“What’re ye gonna do?” Gobber asked him. He had, of course, been one of those listed, and was now walking just behind Stoick as they made their way into the woods. “I’m assumin’ ye’ve got a plan in tha’ head o’ yours.” 

“I do,” Stoick said grimly. “But I don’t know if it’s a good one. What sort of weaponry have we got left?” 

“Two fryin’ pans, a rollin’ pin, an’ a kitchen knife.” Gobber said, dumping the contents of his sack on the ground. 

“An’ jus’ what,” said Stoick softly. “Are we goin’ to do with that? Bake them a cake?” 

Instead of answering properly, Gobber picked up the knife and threw it with deadly precision at a pine tree. It embedded itself in the trunk, and after a moment the whole thing split in two. “That might be useful.” He said, with a certain degree of satisfaction.   
\-------------------------------------- 

“Alright bud, let’s go on in.” Hiccup whispered as Toothless glided low to the water past the Outcast fleet. Figureheads shaped like skulls did nothing to relieve the overall creepiness of the ships. The sails had red patters that looked as if someone had splattered blood across them. Bulky men were scrambling across the decks, shouting and relaying orders from the one in the front. 

The one in front was Alvin. He was as big as Stoick, which was the politest was that Hiccup could think to out it. He had an axe on his back and a sword at his side, with a braided beard that fell down to his mid-chest. A large fur coat was draped over his shoulders, and Hiccup was struck with how similar the fashion sense was to his father’s. 

Toothless swooped up and landed on the mast of the last ship, giving Hiccup a birds’—dragons’--eye view, which was rather helpful. Hiccup was able to pick out who was commanding each vessel. “Ok, we, uh. . .we need to get those guys,” He said, pointing to each of the leaders. Toothless leapt off the mast and landed behind that ship’s captain, growling softly. He turned around, and before he could scream, he was tossed overboard. Hiccup realized he had yet to pull up his hood and mask and proceeded to do so. 

They moved on to the next ship, then the next, moving with deadly (at least for those of the Outcasts who couldn’t swim) precision. Hiccup made a mental note of the Outcasts not being the most observant people. Soon enough the only one remaining to be de-captained was the lead ship. 

For this one Hiccup steered Toothless around the port side of the boat, then looped upwards so that they landed on the figurehead—which was, to his horror, a pure bone dragon skull, rather than a carving—and faced Alvin. Toothless growled deep in his throat. Hiccup did his best to look intimidating, and the odd thing was that as he watched the crew, they backed off. Hoods and masks change a person’s appearance to a degree that is beyond human comprehension. 

“Who are ye?” Alvin broke the silence, drawing his sword. He alone out of the group of Outcasts before the boy and dragon that did not look scared, on the contrary; he looked almost interested in these challengers. “Whaddaya wan’ with me an’ my ships?” 

“Stay away from Berk,” Hiccup answered, lowering his voice to disguise it. “Stay away. Go back to your island. For I am it’s-it’s guardian.” No, he had not thought about it that way before, but despite all his attempts to leave, he couldn’t manage it. He couldn’t leave it to fend for itself. “Go back.” 

“I don’ wanna,” Alvin grinned. “What’re ya gonna do ‘bout it, eh?” 

“Don’t make me come down there,” Hiccup warned. He tightened his grip on the saddle and clicked his leg into the next position. 

“Try me!” Alvin’s grin widened. 

“Now, bud,” Hiccup whispered as he leaned down. Toothless shot forward and tackled Alvin, knocking him to the ground. The Night Fury roared, and the back of his throat began glowing a deadly blue. 

“NOW!” Alvin shouted. Two or three people jumped and grabbed Hiccup’s shoulders. They dragged him off Toothless and threw him to the ground. 

He landed with a grunt. “Toothless-!” He choked out, rolling over. The dragon leaped back off of Alvin so that he was curled around Hiccup as the boy struggled to his feet—foot. He stood, glaring at Alvin. With his hood and mask up his face was indiscernible, except for his eyes. Those glittered green in the torchlight, flames reflecting back at the oncoming Outcasts. “What-what do you want?” He panted. 

“I’ve heard tales of a Dragon Conqueror,” said Alvin calmly, almost lazily. “Shame ta see it’s only a stick figure, ay lads?” Laughter from the gathered Outcast sailors. “Wonder what’s under that mask, eh?” 

Hiccup took a step back and bumped into Toothless’ wing. “Easy bud,” He said when Toothless growled again and raised his wings threateningly. “We can still get out of here. Just- just give me a moment.” 

Alvin advanced, taking long strides. The dragon snapped at him as soon as he was in range, but Alvin, rather than jumping away, jumped forward, knocking Hiccup back to the ground and out of Toothless’ reach. “Gotcha!” He said, once he pinned down the wriggling Haddock. “Now let’s see-” He tugged the mask roughly off Hiccup, revealing the gasping face of the Heir of Berk. “Stoick’s boy?” He asked in surprise. “What’re ya doin’ out here, all on yer own?” 

“Being a Dragon Conqueror,” Hiccup said dryly, glaring up at him. “What’re you doing here?” 

“Takin’ over yer island!” Alvin laughed. “Or, rather, yer old island. I somehow can’t see yer father lettin’ a Night Fury live in his village, funny enough.” He got up and dragged Hiccup up with him, tying the teen to the mast. “Put yer mask back on lad, we’re gonna go see yer father.” 

A man snapped the mask back into place and raised the hood so that Hiccup could no longer see. Someone screamed, and Hiccup heard Alvin say: “Be nice, beast, or yer kid dies.” 

And then Hiccup heard nothing, nothing besides the water gently slapping the long-ships’ sides as they cut through the water. No gulls cried; no watchmen raised any alerts. Hiccup didn’t even hear the usual calls of ‘ALL’S WELL’. The return shouts of the return shouts of ‘GOOD’ too, were absent, making for an eerie silence as the ships rolled onto the sandy shore. 

“C’mon,” Alvin huffed, untying Hiccup. On the short trip over he had had one of his men put a muzzle on Toothless and chain his tail around the fins. 

Gobber’s advice of ‘It’s the wings and the tail ya go fer.’ ran through the back of Hiccup’s mind. He shook his head to clear it, trying desperately to think of a way out of this. Ropes are, funnily enough, a pretty good escape prevention tactic, so despite him wriggling his wrists he made no progress towards escape. 

The Outcasts tramped through the woods and up to the village, but Hiccup still heard nothing. He felt the familiar crunch of the stones beneath his foot and heard the click of metal for his other one, but still he could not see. He wondered vaguely if a hood was a bad fashion choice. 

“Do I knock?” He heard Alvin asking someone, presumably Savage. “What’s the etiquette in these situations?” 

A grunt, a crashing nose, and Hiccup was shoved into a room. “He’s not here.” Alvin sounded disgusted. “Turned an’ ran like a coward!” 

“Sir! One o’ our men spotted someone runnin’ through the woods!” Another Outcast soldier panted. Hiccup decided that it must have been one of the scouts Alvin sent out. 

“Then they’re in the woods, then,” said Alvin, with some degree of satisfaction. “An’ so, we oughta be too. Get movin’!” 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Gobber crouched in the bushes, listening intently. Rustling noises could be heard, but nothing outside of the normal birds and squirrels in the trees. A few little rodents scampered by his feet. A raven cawed raucosly above him. 

Suddenly a much larger, ground-level rusting noise began coming towards Gobber's hiding spot. He tensed, ready to spring forward. An Outcast came into sight and he pounced, knocking the man to the ground. They rolled back and forth, but the Outcast had an axe, and Gobber did not. Gobber got to his feet and ran, making sure the Outcast followed. 

“Oh, you lousy Outcast!” He yelled over his shoulder, adding a few more. . .colorful phrases after that. Which, of course, the pursuing person did not appreciate, and he ran all the faster. “Well,” Gobber panted, coming to a slow stop in front of a wall, a wall that he had no time to climb. “You got me.” 

The Outcast advanced, raising his axe. Out of nowhere Stoick dropped on top of him, knocking the man unconscious instantly. “Or maybe it’s we who’ve got you.” Gobber grinned and help Stoick back to his feet. “Nice one, Chief.” 

“Thank you, Gobber,” Stoick brushed himself off. “Are there any more?” 

“Not that I know of-” Gobber started, but just then another rustling noise was heard. 

Stoick tensed and leapt at it, brandishing the Outcast’s axe. He stopped, weapon inches above the person’s face. “Fishlegs!” He shouted in exasperation at the teen pinned beneath him. “For Thor’s sake, I could have killed ye!” 

“Thank you! For not killing me,” Fishlegs gasped. “But- I was running through the woods, and-and they’ve got someone with them- he's got a hood and a cloak and a metal leg!” 

Stoick frowned as he helped Fishlegs up. “I haven’t heard of an Outcast that’s lookin’ like that.” 

“He’s small t-too. Going by height, I- I'd say he was my age?” Fishlegs used a branch to pull himself up. “It was weird.” 

“Fishlegs, this is very important,” Stoick held the teen’s shoulders. “Was there a dragon with them?” 

“Th-there was something,” Fishlegs said nervously. “It didn’t look like any dragon I had ever seen, though. It was- it was all black, and-” 

Stoick inhaled deeply and stepped back, mind reeling. He didn’t process the rest of Fishleg’s description. Not like anything I’ve seen. All black. That was all he could think of. 

“Go get to the others,” He said gruffly. “Tell them we’ve got an extra problem.” 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“You know they’re not going to come for me,” Hiccup pointed out. He had his back to a tree. His hood was still up, but he was allowed to see now. He knew this part of the beach well, the scattered pines that grew in the sand were scrawny but sturdy. “They think I’m dead.” 

“I’m countin’ on that,” Alvin was grinning as he tightened the ropes binding Hiccup. “Yer me bargainin’ chip, boy, and don’ you forget that.” 

“Funny enough, I don’t think I will.” He tugged at the ropes a little bit. “You can make those a bit tighter, if you pull hard enough—yeah-yeah, there you go.” 

“Shut up,” Alvin’s grin slid off his face. “Yer annoyin’, ye know that?” 

“I didn’t, thanks for telling me,” Hiccup said innocently. He was only half paying attention to Alvin; Toothless was muzzled and tied down about ten yards away. The dragon growled at anyone who came near him, which was a decent Outcast deterrent. “No one, especially all the elders on my island, has ever told me that before.” 

“Sarcastic too,” Alvin grunted. “We should put a muzzle on ye as well as yer dragon, eh?” 

“Me?” Hiccup tilted his head. “Sarcastic? Never.”’ 

“Oh, shut up, or I’ll follow through on the threat o’ muzzlin’ ye.” He walked over to where Toothless was, and the dargon’ snarling intensified. “Oh, I’m not gonna hurt ye,” Alvin crouched down just our of Toothless’ reach. “Yer a vital part o’ me plan, see?” 

Hiccup craned his neck to get a better look at his dragon. He seemed fine, apart from the restraints. There were no cuts that Hiccup could see, and in that regard, Toothless was better off than himself, for Hiccup’s elbows and knees were scraped from where he had hit the deck of the ship. 

“Because yer lad’s father,” Alvin jerked a thumb in Hiccup’s direction. “Thinks he’s dead, carried of by a Night Fury—that is, you. So, all I’ve gotta do is tell ‘im I’ve caught the beast that killed his boy, an’ when he comes down to see. . .well, ye get the point.” 

Hiccup felt a burning feeling in the back of his throat, but he choked it down. His father thought that his best friend had killed him, and while there was a certain level of irony to that, it still hurt. Toothless had saved his life, and probably, by helping Hiccup, the lives of dozens more Vikings. But his father thought him a murderer all the same. “Don’t you hurt him,” Hiccup said, instead of voicing that train of thought. “I’ll-I’ll. . .” 

“You’ll what?” Alvin jeered. “Kill me? You Haddocks have never had that in ye, seven generations, and my family has yet ta see you lot kill someone outside o’ battle.” 

“If you hurt my father,” Hiccup said through gritted teeth. “I’ll give you a battle you’ll never forget.” 

Alvin laughed heartily at that. “This one’s got a mouth on him, lads! Didja hear that? This scrawny little Haddock is goin’ ta fight us!” He ambled back over to Hiccup. “Hear me well, O Dragon Conquerer,” He hissed. “There’s word goin’ round that yer father would pay good money to find out who killed his boy. He knows there’s a Rider. Now, how d’ye think he’ll take the news that’s it’s you?” 

Hiccup’s words of defiance caught in his throat. “Y-you can’t let him know it’s me.” 

“An’ why not?” Alvin laughed. “It’ll be the funniest thin’ I’ve seen in years!” 

\----------------------------------------------- 

Astrid peered into the darkness. Mulch was up front, but a little bit ago Bucket had dropped back—to “Get the little girl’s lamb,” he had explained. Astrid had agreed to cover for him, and she was taking that very seriously, clutching the little hammer that Stoick had given her so hard that her knuckles were white. 

A rustling noise in behind her caught her attention and she whirled around; hammer raised. Out of the bushes stepped two Outcasts, Bucket between them. Bucket had been successful, to a degree, because in his left hand he held the lamb. “Sorry, Mulch.” He muttered, hanging his head. 

Mulch bustled to the where Astrid stood. “What in the name o’ Thor happened—oh, come on Bucket, can’t ye do a simple thing?” 

One of the Outcasts frowned, as if thinking that this was not a normal person’s reaction to having one’s friend held as a hostage. The other one said, “Follow me.” and led back the way they came, keeping a tight but unnecessary grip on Bucket. 

Astrid stowed the hammer out of sight as the group followed the two soldiers. There wasn’t much of a choice before them, no one wanted to see Bucket dead, and so they followed. 

The little owner of the lamb skipped up to the front of the line, grinning broadly. “Thank you, mister!” She said, hugging the toy tightly as it was handed to her. Bucket smiled softly back, then kept going. The girl went back to her parents, Astrid made sure of that. 

The group reached the beach, and to Astrid’s horror—or, added horror. This was already bad enough--there was someone tied to a tree. There was also a Night Fury chained up, and Astrid put two and two together easily enough. “Oh, Hiccup,” She whispered, her grip on her hammer getting all the tighter. 

“Well, well, well,” A man stepped on top of a rock as if it were a stage. “Look what the dogs dragged in.” Laughter sounded from his troops. “For those o’ ye who don’ know, my name is Alvin the Treacherous, and believe me, that name was earned.” 

“Pfft, Alvin?” Tuffnut snorted, elbowing his sister, who was also snickering. “How did he earn that?” 

“I’m here,” Alvin continued, oblivious to the mockery taking place below. “Not to take over ye island—not yet, anyway—but to talk to yer chief. Knowin’ him, he had a sort o’ plan. Now, who here knows it?” 

“Say goodbye to Stoick,” Mildew whispered in Astrid’s ear. He raised his hand and his voice. “Oh, Alvin!” 

In a split second, Astrid elbowed him in the gut and caught him when he fell. “My grandfather is frail,” She smiled through gritted teeth. “He needs a nap.” 

Alvin squinted, but then nodded as if Viking grandfathers shouting his name before collapsing was the usual. 

Snotlout laughed quietly. “Let me show you how it’s done,” He murmured, then sprinted to Alvin’s rock. He raised a bludgeon, running closer and closer-- 

Alvin turned and frowned at him. Snotlout stopped in his tracks, lowered his arms, and smiled weakly. “For you, sir.” He held out the bludgeon, which Alvin took, laughing. 

“Is this all ye’ve got?” He cried, waving the bludgeon about. Snotlout’s face was bright red. “A big-nosed teen wi’ a tiny club? This is yer fightin’ force?” 

“No, this is!” Astrid charged him, the hammer above her head. 

Alvin turned and coolly grabbed her arm, lifting her off the ground. With his free hand he snatched the hammer. “Me old hammer! I was wonderin’ when I'd get this back.” 

Astrid kicked, but it didn’t do any good. The hooded figure tied to a tree made some muffled noises of protest, drawing some attention to himself. “Shut up!” Astrid yelled at him. 

Alvin took that to mean him. “Who’re ye tellin’ to shut up, eh lass?” He put her back on the ground, holdng her in place by the hair. “Tell me where that chief o’ yours is, now!” He tugged. 

“I’m right here.” Stoick vaulted over a near-by boulder. “Let her go, Alvin. It’s me ye want.” 

“It is indeed!” Alvin grinned and dropped Astrid. “Good to see ye again, old boy!” 

“What do you want from me?” Stoick’s face was calm, unmoving. He stood facing Alvin, shoulders square and legs apart. 

“I foun’ something that I thought would interest ye,” He shrugged. “Or, more specifically, someone.” He tossed a rock over the head of the crowd so that everyone moved to the sides, leaving the person tied to the tree in Stoick’s line of sight. “That’s the one, Stoick lad,” Alvin said. “That’s the Night Fury rider. And the Night Fury, for that matter.” That last bit brought gasps of fear and surprise from the crowd. 

Stoick went white and his stance faltered. “Ye brought him here?” He asked faintly. “Why?” 

“Well now,” Alvin smiled, sort of tilting and nodding his head in a modest gesture. “I heard he killed yer boy, an’ I figured ye’d want words wi’ ‘im if ye could get ‘im.” 

“No!” Astrid realized what was happening. “Sir, no, it’s a trap!” 

“Quiet!” Stoick thundered. Apparently, the Night Fury was enough proof for him. “What do you want to let me have him?” 

\---------------------------------------- 

Hiccup had watched the goings-on with increasing anxiety. He watched Snotlout and Astrid run up to defend their tribesmen and women. He watched Stoick leap to protect Astrid. And he thought of himself, hooded, to protect who? Him. That was it. 

And in that moment, he cared not that he was going to be revealed. 

He felt the ropes behind him loosen and fall away, and before anyone could come around to the front of him, he jumped forwards, ducking underneath an outstretched arm that he recognized as his father’s. He ran as fast as he could at Toothless, trying to compensate for his limp with his other leg. He started fiddling with the locks and chains, and one by one they fell away. He yanked off the muzzle, and Toothless roared with all his pent-up rage from the time of captivity. 

Outcasts and Berkians alike backed away from the Night Fury. Toothless’ mouth was open and glowing deadly blue. “Toothless, stand down,” Hiccup commanded, stepping forward. 

Stoick glared at him. “Who’re you, an’ why are ye on my island?” And then, not waiting for an answer, he leapt at Hiccup, knocking him to the ground. 

Hiccup gasped as his back hit the sand. “W-wait!” He raised an arm and tugged at the mask, and in a moment it was off. Green eyes met green eyes, and Stoick’s face went rigid with shock. “H-hey dad.” Hiccup said weakly. 

The hood framed his face, his hair was sticking up in all directions, but it was still Hiccup that Stoick saw, still the boy that he had raised. “What--” He sat up and hauled his son to his feet, looking him over. He looked, he looked for a minute, and then a minute more. “What is the meaning of this?!” He held Hiccup up by the back of his cloak. 

For Toothless did not understand humans, nor human parents, and since Stoick was yelling, the Night Fury assumed the worst. He roared and tackled Stoick, landing on top of the chief and preparing a plasma blast. “Toothless, no!” Hiccup screamed, jumping at him. He pushed the dragon away, but then Spitelout and a Hofferson pinned the dragon. Spitelout slammed the mouth shut as steam hissed from Toothless’ nostrils. “No, please, please don’t hurt him, please--” Hiccup begged as his father dragged him away. 

\------------------------------------------- 

“I can’t believe it,” Stoick growled, tossing his son into one of the old dragon pens in the arena. “I should have known; I should have seen the signs.” He glared at Hiccup. “You let me think ye were dead, and instead I find that you’re. . .riding dragons? Do you have any idea how serious an offense that is?” 

“I know, I’m sorry, I-I-I messed up,” Hiccup stammered hopping a bit to regain his balance. “But please, do what you want with me, just don’t- just don’t hurt Toothless, please--” 

“That’s what you’re worried about here?!” Stoick roared. “Your pet dragon? Not the people you almost got killed?!” 

“He was just trying to protect me!” Hiccup protested. “He didn’t understand you weren’t trying to hurt me!” 

“That thing is dangerous! He’s probably killed dozens of us, and the rest o’ his kind has killed hundreds--” 

“And we’ve killed thousands of them!” Hiccup interrupted, stepping closer to his father. His eyes blazed. “There was something back on their island, a queen, they had to bring enough food back for her or--” 

“You’ve been to their island?” Stoick’s voice wend deadly quiet. 

“It’s not going to happen anymore though,” Hiccup ignored his father’s question. “It- it’s dead, and they won’t have to attack anymore, and we can live in peace--” 

“There will never be peace!” Stoick shouted. “Not so long as dragons are around will there be peace. There’s history, Hiccup. History you have forgotten.” 

“Dad--” Hiccup started. 

“Don’t call me that,” Stoick turned his back and walked out. “You side with them, you’re not one of us. You’re not my son.” And he walked out, slamming the door behind him, lock falling into place.


	8. Escape (?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Shut if Fish-Face,” He grumbled, picking up a rock. Toothless tried to sniff him again. “Hey! Back off! Just because I’m not trying to kill you doesn’t mean we’re friends!” Toothless sat back on his haunches and stared at him. “Stop that,” Snotlout ordered, stepping back nervously. “Stop it,” He said again. Toothless didn’t stop it. “Hiccuuuup!” He yelled, turning and running at the other boy. “Your dragon’s being freaky!”

Hiccup lay in a pile of straw he had found in one corner of the pen. It wasn’t even a proper pen, he thought, just a cave with a door. He couldn’t hear anything from outside and he doubted that anyone could hear him if he bothered yelling. 

He had spent at least an hour banging on the doors, but they didn’t budge. Finally, he resigned himself to not being able to get out and lay down, wondering about Toothless. His father had not taken that news well, and Hiccup was silently cursing himself for getting into this mess. If he had gotten on Toothless and left when he had the chance, he wouldn’t be here, and Toothless wouldn’t be wherever he was and in trouble. 

A loud bang came from his door. His head shot up and he scrambled backwards as the door opened, revealing. . .Astrid. “Hey,” She said, slipping in and sitting next to him. 

“I, uh, h-hey?” Hiccup stammered, scooting a bit further away. “W-what are you doing here?” 

“Just checking in,” She had her whetstone and was sharpening her axe. “The Outcasts left after you got dragged in here, so that’s one thing down.” Hiccup nodded mutely as Astrid continued. “of course, you’ve lost everything, your father, your tribe, your best friend--” 

“Thank you,” Hiccup said angrily. “Thank you, for summing that up.” He stood. “Why didn’t I run? Why did I think that he would understand? He listens as well as he did before I left, why did I think he would change? And now I'm here and Toothless is probably going to be k-killed, because I keep making terrible choices and thinking that people can change.” He waved his arms agitatedly. 

“I changed,” Astrid said quietly. “You showed me Toothless, and I changed. For the better, I think.” 

Hiccup shook his head. “I can’t show him anything without Toothless.” 

“Then let’s get you Toothless,” Astrid stood and held out a hand. 

Hiccup stared for a minute, then took it. “You know where he is?” 

She nodded. “I followed them after they chained him up. He’s in the jail, you know, the one in the room off Great Hall.” 

“What room?” Hiccup frowned. 

“She told you,” said a new voice. “The one off the Great Hall!” 

“Tuffnut?” Hiccup asked in disbelief. “Wh-what’re you doing?” 

“Helping you,” Ruffnut poked her head in alongside her brother’s. “Duh.” 

“I, uh,” Hiccup was at loss for words. “Thanks.” He said at last. 

“No problem, my hooded friend.” Tuffnut bowed and swung the door open. “By the way, where did you get that? It’s lit, I’d like one.” 

“You’d look like a dork,” Ruffnut said, punching his arm. 

“Are you sure no one’s around?” Hiccup went back to his habits of ignoring the Twins’ antics. 

“It’s the middle of the night,” Astrid peeked outside. “No one’s up, except us and you” 

“Good,” He walked out, wincing when his leg squeaked. He made a mental note to oil it later. “I don’t even want to know what’ll happen if my dad finds you guys with me, so you go home and--” 

“No way,” Astrid said firmly. “Anyway, they’ve got the key, and I’m not leaving you to deal with them alone, so you’re stuck with us.” 

Hiccup had to let her come for that, so he shrugged. But, knowing that the dark would hide it, he smiled. “It’s been a long few weeks, huh?” 

Astrid nodded, though it wasn’t visible. “Yeah, yeah it has.” 

“Stop being soft for each other and get going!” Tuffnut slapped them both on the shoulder and jogged ahead of them, Ruffnut snickering as she followed suite. 

\------------------------ 

Alvin was sailing past some sea stacks, back towards Outcast Island. “Any news from our Berk man?” He asked Savage after several hours of silence. 

Savage shook his head. “Nothin’, sir,” He walked forwardto stand next to his chief. “Not a word yet, so the boy hasn’t left yet.” 

“What’s takin’ him so long?” Alvin grunted. “He’s holdin’ up my plans. Very inconsiderate.” 

\---------------------- 

“Here?” Hiccup asked. He and Astrid and the Twin’s stood in front of a large tapestry that showed the history of the island in bright colors woven in and added as time went on. 

Astrid nodded and ducked under the curtain. She grabbed Hiccup’s arm and dragged him with her. “Woah, woah- hey-” Hiccup stumbled over his words as well as his feet. “How long have you known this was here?” He asked, staring at the locked door that had been hidden by the tapestry. 

“A few years,” Tuffnut smiled and unlocked the door. “It’s the sort of thing you find when you are in the business of being me.” 

“He fell against it when it was open last week,” Ruffnut informed them. 

“Keep quiet!” Tuffnut’s key clicked in the lock and the door swung open to reveal Toothless. 

He was chained down and muzzled, much like how the Outcasts had him, but with even more restraints and such. “Alright bud,” Hiccup knelt beside him and started tugging the chains off. “I’m here, we’re gonna get you out, just hold on--” 

“Less talking, more freeing the large, dangerous dragon that could kill us all,” Ruffnut interrupted, pulling the rope that tied Toothless’ tail fins together off. The dragon lashed his newly free tail and knocked Ruffnut down. “How’s that for gratitude?” She asked, getting back up. 

“Horrible manners,” Tuffnut agreed, cutting through a rope that bound the dragon’s wings. This time Toothless held still. “Ha! It likes me better!” 

“Guys,” Hiccup interjected as he finally got the muzzle off. “Could we focus? Please?” 

“I got his legs undone, and I think he’s good now.” Astrid stepped back as Toothless got up and shook himself like a dog. 

“Hey bud,” Hiccup said softly and scratched under his chin. “Sorry about that.” 

“Are you going to introduce us?” Hiccup was certain he would implode now, because that wasn’t said by any of his current companions. He turned and faced the still open door to see Snotlout leering at him. 

“What are you doing here?” Astrid raised her axe. 

“Finding you lot snooping around.” Snotlout came into the room. Toothless growled at him, and Snotlout took a nervous step back out, deciding to stay just oustide. “What do you think you’re doing, freeing the failure and his dumb dragon?” 

Hiccup flinched as he tried to adjust Toothless’ saddle. 

“We’re getting him off the island,” Astrid glowered at Snotlout. “And you’re going to get out of here and leave us to do that.” 

“Am I?” 

“Yes,” Astrid said. “Yes, you are.” Toothless took a step closer to Snotlout. 

Snotlout gulped. “Yeah, you’re right. I know a backstreet route to get out of the village, you want to take that?” 

“Yeah.” Hiccup tightened the last strap on Toothless. “I think I’m good to go.” 

“Then let’s not waste so much time,” Snotlout led the way out of the Great Hall, turning a somersault for dramatic flair as he turned into an alleyway. “It’s not that far from here, just eleven up and one over.” 

Astrid and Hiccup walked side-by-side behind him, with the Twins bringing up the rear. They were laughing quietly and shoving each other, and with one push Tuff accidentally knocked Ruffnut into a ground level window. “Oops,” He said, and the whole group froze as the window shutters swung open. 

“Wha’s goin’ on?” A very tired Fishlegs poked his head out the window, staring at the assembled teens before him. The teens stared back. 

“This is all a dreeeeam,” Tuffnut said at last, waving his hands mystically. “You’re asleeeeep, nothing is real, go back to beeeed. . .” 

Fishlegs blinked. 

“Veeeery much not real,” Ruffnut picked up her brother’s statement. “Completely in your heeead.” 

Hiccup facepalmed and Astrid groaned. “What are you muttonheads thinking?” Snotlout whisper yelled. “That’s not going to work!” 

“I have to be dreaming,” Fishlegs said at last. “Because there is a Night Fury outside my window, and I'm still alive.” 

“That’s right!” Tuffnut encouraged him. 

“You MUTTONHEADS!” Snotlout said rather loudly. 

“Oh, my Thor, there’s a Night Fury outside of my house!” Fishlegs screamed. 

“Fishlegs! Keep it down!” Astrid hissed. 

“He’s friendly, don’t worry!” Hiccup added, petting Toothless for good measure. 

“A Night Fury is very worrying, Hiccup!” Fishleg’s, while whispering, was still extremely high-pitched. “And what are you even doing here? You and that dragon were both locked up!” 

“Are you saying you agree with that?” Astrid raised an eyebrow. 

“No, of course not!” Fishlegs looked shocked. “But what I’m saying is, this is kind of, well, illegal? And you’re all doing it?” He glanced at the same kids he had been attending dragon training with. 

“Care to join us?” Hiccup held out a hand. 

Fishlegs hesitated. “Alright,” He said at last. “What are we doing?” 

“We’re getting Hiccup and Toothless--” Astrid made a point to use the dragon’s name. “Off the island so nothing bad happens to them.” 

“Well, nothing bad happens to them here, anyway.” Tuff said. 

Ruff grinned. “Can’t make any promises about afterwards.” 

“Shut up,” Snotlout glared at them. “Now are we going? This is taking forever!” 

“I am forced to agree with Snotlout,” Astrid said, leaning her axe lazily over her shoulder. “We should get going before anyone else wakes up.” 

Hiccup nodded. “All my stuff is in the cove, if we can get there, I can pack up and leave without taking any food from anywhere here.” 

“I like that plan.” Fishlegs agreed. He swung his short legs over the windowsill and dropped down, landing on his back and looking rather like a turtle. “How’d you get a Night Fury anyway, Hiccup?” 

“I think he got me,” Hiccup smiled and scratched under Toothless’ chin. “But it’s about a long enough story to get us down to the cove, so. . .” He talked as they walked, hands waving about as he narrated the fight with the Red Death. There was some time left at the end, so Hiccup dropped to the back of the line to talk to Astrid. 

“I don’t want to leave.” He said. “I-I can’t just leave the island alone and let you guys deal with Alvin. I’m better equipped to fight him than any of you, what with the dragon and all that, but my father-” 

“We could do something else,” Astrid interrupted, but she seemed hesitant. “We could. . .we could get our own dragons. Like you did with me and Stormfly.” 

“Stormfly?” Hiccup’s brow furrowed. 

“The Nadder you trained for me,” She clarified. 

“Oh. .. Oh! That’s- that’s a good name, yeah!” Hiccup brightened. “You’re getting along with her well then?” 

“She’s amazing!” Astrid smiled. “But my point is, we could get the others-” She waved at the Twins and Snotlout and Fishlegs. “-Dragons too. That way we can protect the island without you.” 

“But I don’t want to dump that one you-” Hiccup started. 

“Hiccup, listen to me,” Astrid said urgently. “People have heard of you. Eventually they’ll hear about who you really are. There’s no way you can stay, they’re going to come after you. Alvin already came after you, but I think he’s more interested in Berk than you personally. Other people will be different, Hiccup.” 

Hiccup sighed. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. I’ll get going, and we’ll do the dragon thing. Just, make sure not to get caught, alright?” 

“I’m not stupid, Hiccup.” She laughed and punched his arm. 

\--------------------------------------------- 

“Man, is there a longer way we could have taken through those woods?” Snotlout groaned and put his hands on his lower back and leaned backwards to stretch. “My feet feel like watermelons.” He yawned, and Toothless took this as an opportunity to sniff his behind. “Ah!” Snotlout screamed, jumping forwards into Fishlegs’ arms. Fishlegs looked disgusted and dropped him. “I, uh, I meant to do that,” Snotlout said with a cough. 

“Suuuure,” Fishlegs snorted. “And yaks lay eggs.” 

“Shut if Fish-Face,” He grumbled, picking up a rock. Toothless tried to sniff him again. “Hey! Back off! Just because I’m not trying to kill you doesn’t mean we’re friends!” Toothless sat back on his haunches and stared at him. “Stop that,” Snotlout ordered, stepping back nervously. “Stop it,” He said again. Toothless didn’t stop it. “Hiccuuuup!” He yelled, turning and running at the other boy. “Your dragon’s being freaky!” 

“He’s just trying to be friendly,” Hiccup said exasperatedly, looking up from where he had been shoving food back into his bag. “Here, let me show you.” He stood and took Snotlout’s hand and led him back to where Toothless was making his chuckling noise. “Toothless, don’t be rude.” Hiccup sighed. “Alright,” He held out his and Snotlout’s hands. 

Toothless sniffed briefly, then closed his eyes and put his nose on Snotlout’s outstretched fingers. “There you go!” Hiccup smiled softly. 

“Hiccup, there’s something in the bushes,” Astrid called, 

“Woah, hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Snotlout asked nervously as Hiccup walked off. He twisted his body, scared to move away but scared to be along with a Night Fury. 

Hiccup ignored Snotlout and crept towards Astrid. She pointed at the bushes where she had heard something. 

“I heard something back here,” Hiccup whispered back, crouching a little as he walked. And indeed, from the bushes came a rustling noise. Hiccup stalked towards it and slipped through a gap in the hedge. When he emerged again, he was walking backwards, hand on the snout of a red-and-black Monstrous Nightmare. 

“Woah,” Snotlout forgot himself. His hand slipped from Toothless’ nose, and he tip-toed over to Hiccup. “How are you doing that?” 

“I don’t know,” Hiccup answered with a shrug. “It just happens. Come here,” Again he took Snotlout’s hand with his free one, and in a smooth movement he replaced his right hand with his left and Snotlout’s. 

Snotlout’s face shone with awe. “You’re big,” He breathed, moving his hand down so that he could pet under the dragon’s chin. 

“What’re you going to call him?” Hiccup asked, taking a step back so he could stand next to Toothless. 

“What?” Snotlout looked confused. “Call him? I’m not calling him anything.” 

“Sure you are. It’s part of a plan me and Astrid came up with.” Hiccup explained. 

“We-” Astrid waved her axe at the group of teens, excluding Hiccup. “-Are going to get some dragons so that we can protect the island while Hiccup’s gone.” 

“Seriously?” Fishlegs jogged over. “But that’s- that’s dangerous, what if we’re caught-” 

“We won’t be.” Astrid said firmly, giving him a look. 

“. . .Alright.” Fishlegs still seemed doubtful, but between the dragons and Astrid, he would take the dragons. “So, what kind should I get?” 

“Hey!” Tuffnut yelled, pointing into the bushes. “Aren’t those two other dragons the same ones that were in the arena?” 

“What other dragons?” Hiccup asked. 

“The ones staring at us from the bushes,” Tuffnut pointed and sure enough, there were two dragons there, a Zippleback and a Gronkle. 

“Oh,” Hiccup said. “They must have followed us.” 

“Followed you,” Fishlegs corrected. “Do you have, like, powers of any sory? Some kind of magic that makes them like you?” 

“No, Fishlegs,” Hiccup said tiredly. “I don’t have superpowers. Or magic either.” 

“Pfft,” Tuffnut snorted. “We all know you’re a wizard, Mr. Haddock. Stop trying to hide it.” 

“Yeah!”Ruffnut leaned on her brother’s shoulder. 

Hiccup sighed and rolled his eyes. 

“Let’s get on with it, shall we?” Astrid asked, hefting her axe over her shoulder and whistling. Stormfly landed in the cove, tilting her head and squawking at the other teens. “Hey girl,” Astrid patted her side. “We get to show these new people how it’s done later. Sound good?” Another squawk, this one of agreement. 

“Right,” Hiccup clapped his hands and led the Zippleback over. He did the hand thing with Ruff and Tuff, leaving them standing awkwardly as he went to help Fishlegs. “Breath, Fishlegs,” He said, taking his trembling hand. The Gronkle went stock-still, pupils dilating and nostrils flaring. Fishlegs squeaked and covered his eyes with his other hand, but held his ground. 

The Gronkle’s tail started wagging, and Hiccup left them to it. 

“Well,” He said, standing off to the side with Astrid and watching the others. “I’d say that was sucessful.” 

“I’ll say,” She smiled and rubbed Stormfly’s horn. The Twins were already spitballing names, with cries of ‘TUFFNUT JUNIOR’ ringing out among the rocks. “I’ve already got some training excersizes planned out.” 

“Promise me something,” Hiccup said after a moment’s pause. 

“What?” 

“That you’ll protect Berk.” He took a deep breath. “I mean, when anything goes wrong, you have to deflect it under the radar, but send me a message. Trader Johann knows, so use him for that.” 

“I already promised that,” She pointed out, reaching for his hand. 

“I need you to promise something else then,” Hiccup said slowly. “If anything- if anything happens to me, I need you to look after Toothless. I’m- I’m going to make him a self-flying tail, soon, but- I need you to make sure he’s alright. Don’t let anyone find him.” 

“I will,” She said softly. “Just- promise me nothing will go wrong?” 

His mouth twisted upwards, but it wasn’t a smile, not a real one. “I’ll see you later.” He snapped his fingers and Toothless bounded over, wriggling like an over excited puppy. “Bye, everyone!” Hiccup called awkwardly. 

A chorus of ‘Goodbyes!’ and ‘Later, loser!’ s rang out as Hiccup and Toothless took off. As the cove shrank in the distance, Hiccup was pretty sure he could hear Snotlout screaming something about being on fire, and Fishlegs yelling ‘MEATLUG’. He hoped that last one was a name for the Gronkle, not something to call Snotlout. 

Astrid watched as Toothless’ black form disappeared into the night and the last speck of red from his tail vanished. She had four disorderly Viking youths to teach to ride dragons, while barely knowing how herself. 

She smiled. Things could be worse.


	9. Training and Other Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four dragons took off and rose above the trees. Snotlout coasted easily over the leaves and branches, even stretching his arms for a brief second. In that brief second, Hookfang looked over at something, nearly knocking his rider off balance. “Woah! Watch it, you scaled beast!” Snotlout whisper-shouted. 
> 
> “On your left!” Tuffnut crowed as he and Ruffnut soared past. Tuffnut was hanging upside-down, and Ruffnut was trying to take his boots off. 
> 
> “Guys, now is not the time.” Astrid scolded them. Tuffnut pulled himself back into the saddle and made a face. Ruffnut poked him in the ribs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want to have a certain thing from the shows included in later chapters leave a comment about it so i can know!

Toothless landed on the shore of Dragon Island, rocks skittering away from his feet as he stopped. Hiccup slid off him and pulled his hood and mask off. He took a deep breath, tilting his head up towards the sky. The moon was out, and the stars were shining. The sky was so clear he could see the Milky Way in a misty swirl above him. 

“We’ll make camp here for tonight bud, then get going.” Hiccup unfolded his blankets and lay them out of a flatish stone he found after a moment’s walk. “We leave again first thing in the morning.” 

Toothless tilted his head at him. “No, I don’t know where to, but we’ve got to disappear, completely off the map. People are looking for us, bud. Well,” He lay a hand on the dragon’s head. “Mostly you.” Toothless huffed and licked his face. “Ew!” Hiccup laughed and shoved at him. “Gross!” He wiped at his face, but the slobber was stickier than anticipated. “Toothless, this is disgusting!” 

Toothless warbled at him, then licked all down his cloak. 

“Toothless!” Hiccup cried, still laughing. “Now I’ve got to try and wash it out!” He left his rock and headed for the sea. Salt-water wasn’t preferable for laundry, but he was too tired to find a stream. Besides, there was still ash from the mountain and the Red death everywhere, he didn’t think the water would be very clean anyway. 

He dunked the cloth in the water, scrubbing at it with the little bar of soap he had brought. “C’mon, just stop being sticky. . .” He muttered as he went. “Toothless, what is this stuff made of?” 

There was no answer from Toothless, as the dragon had decided to turn his circles and go to sleep. “Oh, yeah, thanks bud,” Hiccup said, shrugging his shoulders. “Leave me to clean up the mess you made. Thanks.” He was pretty sure Toothless huffed at him, but not quite. 

\--------------------------- 

“Well,” Gobber said awkwardly. He and Stoick were in the smithy, Gobber repairing as many weapons as possible and Stoick watching him. “That was. . .interestin’.” 

“I should have known,” Stoick growled. “He always was jus’ like his mother, an’ I let him get carried away. Now, he’s a traitor wi’ a dragon. A dragon, Gobber! And not just any dragon, a Night fury! How could he do that?” 

“Tha’s what I want to know.” Gobber agreed, pounding on a sword blade with his hammer. “How d’you train a dragon?” 

“I don’t mean how, Gobber,” Stoick sighed. “I meant why.” 

“Ah, well tha’s a bit trickier.” Gobber stop hammering and leaned against the anvil. “Maybe he felt like an outcast—not in the literal sense, o’ course—, and tha’ ye didn’t respect him, or tha’ he wasn’t good enough, an’ tha’ if he trained it then he could change things so he coul’ be ‘cepted.” He took a look at Stoick’s face, which was turning red. “O’ course,” Gobber said quickly, “Tha’s just my thoughts on the matter. Ye can ask him, though. Y’know where he is.” 

Stoick nodded slowly. “Yeh, guess you’re right. See you later.” 

\------------------ 

“Hiccup?” Stoick said gruffly, opening the door to the cell in the arena where he had left his son. “Hiccup, I’ve come to talk to ye—what in the name of Thor’s hairiest knickers?!” He exploded, taking in the sight of the empty cage. 

He stormed back to the smithy. “Gobber! He’s gone!” 

“The dragon too?” Gobber dropped his hammer on his foot, the swore for a minute straight. After that was over he turned back to Stoick. “Did ye check for the dragon, Stoick?” 

“No,” Stoick shook his head. “I don’ think he would leave without tha’ thing, wha’s the point in checkin’? But how’d he get out, Gobber? Tha’s what I wanna know. It’s only been a day.” 

“I don’ know, Stoick.” Gobber shrugged. “I don’ know.” 

\------------------------- 

“So. . .how do we fly these things?” Snotlout asked uneasily. Shifting his seat on Hookfang. 

“Under the cover of darkness only,” Astrid answered, swinging lightly onto Stormfly. “We can’t be caught, you hear?” 

“Of course not!” Snotlout snorted. “I’m next in line, Astrid. I’m not blowing that if I can help it.” 

“You? Chief?” Fishlegs shuddered. “Thor help us all.” 

“Shut it, fish-face.” 

“Guys!” Astrid face-palmed. “Could we focus?” 

“No,” said Tuffnut, hanging upside down from the neck of his head. 

“Focusing sucks and should be avoided at all costs.” Ruffnut agreed. 

“What if you’re in a battle? What then? No focus--” She tossed her axe right by Ruffnut’s head. “--You die. But, if you fixate on one person, you’ll die in a different way. So, you’ve got to figure out a balance. Try flying over the tree line, as close as you can get to the leaves without touching them.” 

“What about the watch?” 

“That’s why we’re doing this at night, and, also right above the trees. Harder to see things that way.” She mounted Stormfly, putting her axe in its holder on her back. “Go!” 

Four dragons took off and rose above the trees. Snotlout coasted easily over the leaves and branches, even stretching his arms for a brief second. In that brief second, Hookfang looked over at something, nearly knocking his rider off balance. “Woah! Watch it, you scaled beast!” Snotlout whisper-shouted. 

“On your left!” Tuffnut crowed as he and Ruffnut soared past. Tuffnut was hanging upside-down, and Ruffnut was trying to take his boots off. 

“Guys, now is not the time.” Astrid scolded them. Tuffnut pulled himself back into the saddle and made a face. Ruffnut poked him in the ribs. 

“Alright,” Astrid said, looking at an oncoming cliff. “We’re going to try and fly in a V-formation.” 

“A what?” Snotlout asked. 

“Like a flock of geese!” Fishlegs said excitedly. 

“Oh, yeah,” Snotlout said. “I knew that. Obviously.” 

Astrid rolled her eyes. “Now!” 

Four dragons started to pull forward to be the head of the formation, and four dragons smacked into each other mid-air. Cries of “Watch it!” and “Get back over there!” rang out. Stormfly and Astrid swooped upwards, watching the others fumble around. 

Eventually, they settled on a more organized approach: Astrid in front, with the Twins and Fishlegs behind and to the left. Snotlout went on the right, leaving plenty of room for Hookfang’s long tail to swish behind them. “Take two,” Astrid called, and this time proved more successful. “Still needs work,” She said. “But better. Definitely better.” 

“I’ll take it!” Tuffnut cheered. “We’re dragon trainers, guys! Isn’t that awesome?” 

“It’s more awesome if you don’t let the secret out,” Astrid’s tone switched to warning. “You know what will happen if we’re discovered.” 

“We do?” Fishlegs frowned. “Oh, of course we do!” He laughed nervously at Astrid’s glare. “Yeah, yeah. . .of course. . .” 

“We’ll be kicked off the island, genius,” Snotlout snorted. “And our dragons killed, probably.” 

“Oh,” Fishleg’s voice was small. “No discovery, then.” 

“Ok, tell your dragons to stay in the cove.” Astrid said as they landed. “We’re going back up to the village. Meet me back here at the same time tomorrow night, got it?” 

“Got it,” Chorused the group, and they slowly dispersed, melting into the shadows of the woods. 

\------------------------------------ 

“Toothless, I’m here to inform you that the scent of your spit doesn’t wash out at all,” Hiccup said grumpily, sitting next to his dragon. His cloak was on the rock next to him, drying in wind. Hiccup rather wished that he could wear it, but it was still damp, so he sat in his old fur waistcoat instead. 

Toothless rumbled sleepily at him. “Yeah, good night to you too, bud,” Hiccup said softly. “See you in the morning.” He wrapped himself in a couple blankets, rolled over, and was out in only a minute.   
\------------------------------------- 

“It’s too early,” Hiccup whined, tucking his face back in the blankets. “Go ‘way!” 

Toothless poked him in the face again, then simply pushed him off the rock. “Hey!” Hiccup shouted, flailing about as he tried to disentangle himself from the blankets. “That’s fighting dirty!” Toothless chuckled and smacked him in the face again. Hiccup latched onto his paw and was dragged up and out of the net of blankets, then set gently on his feet. “Thank you kindly,” He bowed. 

Toothless leaned in to lick Hiccup, but he shoved the dragon away, saying: “Nuh-uh, I’m not getting this dirty too. You smell this?” He held up the now-dry cloak for the dragon to sniff. “Still smells like your spit, bud. I’m keeping at least one clean outfit if at all possible.” Toothless huffed and sat back on his haunches. 

“You want some breakfast?” Hiccup offered, pulling two dried fish out of his bag. He tossed the larger to Toothless, then used his knife to cut a portion out of his own. Toothless ate his happily, then rumbled and spat out the head. “Uh, no thanks,” Hiccup held up his own fish to show that he had plenty. “Thanks for the offer though.” Toothless made a shrugging motion and ate it again. 

“So, you want to explore here--” Toothless’ horns flattened, and his pupils turned to slits at that. “Alright then,” Hiccup said quickly. “We’re going to get going, I guess.” He shoved the blankets hurriedly in his pack and the food in Toothless’ 

\------------------------------------- 

Stoick was fuming. He sat, glowering at the table. Gobber was sitting next to him, but he made a point of ignoring the blacksmith. The fire crackled and a spark caught his beard, but he merely brushed it with one calloused hand and it went out. 

“Look,” Gobber was the one to break the silence, as usual. “I know yer upset, Stoick, but--” 

“Upset?” Stoick glared at him. “Upset is too mild a word, Gobber. Upset is far too mild a word. If I was upset when Val was taken, then I am enraged now, because my son went willingly. And yet-” His face softened, though it was still full of emotion. “I can’t hate him, Gobber. I can’t bring myself to do it.” He put his head in his hands and sighed. “What am I going to do?” 

“The only thin’ ye can,” Gobber patted him on the back. “Yer gonna have to fight Alvin, Stoick. He wants this islan’, and we cannae let ‘im have our home. I don’t have any advice on Hiccup, save to pray to Thor that he’s safe. An’ maybe someday ye an’ I can go an’ look for ‘im. But today. . .” 

“Today, we fight.” Stoick finished Gobber’s sentence. He looked up and held a hand out. Gobber grasped with his functioning hand, and shook it hard. “I’ll gather the men,” Stoick got to his feet. “An’ you--” He grinned. “--Get back to work on those weapons. Can’t fight the Outcasts with a kitchen knife more than once, eh?” 

Gobber smiled and slapped him on the back. “Tha’s the Chief we need.” He stumped off the the smithy, singing the old “Well I got my axe and I got my rope, and I smell like a yak ‘cos I don’ use soap-” song. 

Stoick chuckled, then his face fell as he went to his son’s room. On the bed lay that little dragon that Valka had given him. He looked at it for a moment, then picked it up. With some effort he squeezed out the window and onto the roof. He carefully placed the stuffed animal on the figurehead of his house, then nodded with satisfaction and went back inside. ‘Maybe,’ he thought. ‘Maybe someday, Hiccup will come back and take it. And I’ll know he’s alright.’


	10. I still suck at titles but there's a Whispering Death in this chapter so

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ugh, this trip is almost making me think that the world is round,” Hiccup groaned and flopped backwards on Toothless.

“Ugh, this trip is almost making me think that the world is round,” Hiccup groaned and flopped backwards on Toothless. They had been flying for hours. Clouds streamed by and the sun shone, but Hiccup still felt more tired and sad than he ever had before. 

It would be interrupted sometimes, by Toothless, but he mostly felt awful. For leaving Berk, for betraying his father—even if he was in the right—and making Astrid deal with a group of untrained Riders and their dragons. But he didn’t have much of an option now, so he kept flying, talking aloud to Toothless and pretending nothing was wrong. 

Toothless knew, though. In that strange way that animals always know, he would rumble or otherwise interrupt Hiccup when he sensed the boy getting too far into his thoughts. A few times he dove suddenly: now was one of those times. “Toothless!” Hiccup shrieked, sitting up and grabbing onto the saddle. His hood was tugged off by the wind which whipped through his hair. His eyes stung, and he wiped at them hastily with one hand. 

Toothless banked sharply, one wing dipping below a cloud. Hiccup quickly began clicking his foot in the saddle, letting Toothless lead but making sure they didn’t crash. Toothless shot a plasma blast forward as Hiccup whooped, flying straight through it. 

And Hiccup didn’t care. He didn’t care that it scorched his face and singed his hair. He was just happy to be up in the air, where he belonged. 

But that night, that is not what he thought. 

He hated it, this bouncing back and forth. He wished that he could choose: miss Berk enough to give up and go back, or love Toothless enough to stick with him, without regrets. He lay there, next to the sleeping Toothless, wondering if he was always to be torn in two. 

\---------------------- 

The training activities had continued, but something rather more pressing had come up: There was no water on Berk. The wells had all run dry and there was no good way to filter the sea water, so rations were enforced. There hadn’t even been a drought to prompt this; it just happened one day when it came time for Gobber’s yearly bath. 

“Ye have got ta bathe, Gobber!” Stoick had yelled. It was a little silly, the great chief of Berk chasing a rather dusty blacksmith about the village as if the were grimy schoolboys, but no one found Gobber’s smell entertaining. “Ye smell like a yak left out in tha rain tha’ decided ta roll in it’s own dung!” 

“No!” Gobber yelled back, overturning a pile of boxes and barrels—which came as a nasty surprise to some poor sheep. “A smell is earned, Stoick! I cannae jes’ throw it away!” 

“Ye can, and ye will!” Stoick roared. He leapt up and over the tumbling objects, completely intent upon his prey. “If I have ta fight Odin himself, I’ll make ye bathe!” 

“Fight ‘im, then!” Gobber’s peg leg clacked against the stones of the street in a steady but fast tempo. Sheep scattered in his wake, and several villagers grumbled about it. 

“I will!” Stoick roared, tackling him. The two men rolled about on the ground for a bit before Stoick finally pinned the struggling blacksmith beneath him. “Hah! Got ye!” He dragged Gobber over to the tub that he had had the younger warriors prepare. 

It was empty, but even as Gobber was unceremoniously dumped in there—still fully clothed, because Vikings are like that—Fishlegs was sprinting over with a bucket of water. “Coming sir!” He called, stumbling along and clutching the bucket tightly. He sloshed the contents of the bucket over Gobber. 

Gobber squeezed his eyes shut, but opened them tentatively, for nothing had come out of the bucket. “Aha!” He said triumphantly, nearly launching himself out of the tub. 

Stoick held him down with a forceful hand on the shoulder. “Yer goin’ ta have ta do better’n that, Fishlegs.” He said, glancing at the pitiful drops of water that clung to the inside of the bucket. “Tha’ wouldn’ wash a baby fly.” 

“It’s all that was in the well, sir,” Fishlegs said miserably. “I couldn’t get anymore up.” 

“He’s right,” Astrid walked over, leading the Twins and Snotlout. “We pumped all together, but nothing else came out. It’s run dry.” 

“We live on an island!” Stoick exclaimed. “How can we run outta water?” 

Fishlegs shrugged helpfully. “Maybe we should check the well?” 

Stoick glanced at him. 

“. . .Oh no.” Fishlegs knew what that meant. “No, sir, you can’t send me down there alone.” 

“Not alone,” Stoick said. “Not alone.” 

\--------------------------- 

“Where to today, bud?” Hiccup patted Toothless as they took off that morning. Breakfast was the same as dinner had been: fish and bread. They were running out of bread again, but Hiccup was reluctant to return to the Northern Markets. The memories of his pursuit did not make for a nice invitation back, and also the body parts stall still haunted him. 

“I dunno what we’re going to do for food soon, bud,” He sighed. “I can’t live on only fish like you can.” Toothless rumbled and dipped did a barrell roll, leaving Hiccup upside down. Hiccup reached out and let his fingers brush the cloud. “Oh well,” He smiled as the water vapor parted beneath his fingers. “Can’t worry about it now, I suppose. Cross that bridge when we come to it, and all that.” 

Several hours later he jerked forward. “Johann!” He near shouted, slapping his leg. “We can ask Johann!” Toothless smacked him with his horn for startling him, then crowed in agreement. “Tomorrow, we can try and find him,” Hiccup decided, scratching Toothless to sooth him. 

\--------------------- 

“You cannot be serious,” Fishleg stared down the well. “You’re sending me down there with Snolout? What did I ever do to deserve this?” 

“Hey, I’m not thrilled either.” Snotlout grumped, standing next to him with his arms crossed. “I have to go down a creepy, dark hole, probably infested with bats and spiders, with a scaredy cat of an Ingerman. How much worse could it get? I mean, aside from the man-eating bears that live downt here.” 

Astrid punched him. “You’re both going to be fine,” She said firmly. “It’s. . .a good team-building exercise.” She sounded rather doubtful, but Stoick pretended not to notice. 

“Exactly,” the chief agreed. “You’ll go down, check things out, and come back. Simple.” 

“Even you two cannae mess this up,” Gobber added, slapping the two boys on the back. “It’ll be a piece of cake.” 

Snotlout glared at him and Fishlegs shuffled his feet nervously. “So, we just have to go down really fast right?” He asked, wringing his hands. “No, like, exploring?” 

“Ye need to find out what’s wrong,” Stoick said firmly. “An’ if tha’ means explorin’ an’ whatnot, ye’ll do explorin’ and whatnot.” 

Fishlegs deflated while Snotlout snickered. “Yes sir.” 

“You’ll be fine,” Astrid tried for some encouragement. “It’s not like there’s a tunnel system down there.” 

Fishlegs nodded miserably as he and Snotlout were lowered none too gracefully into the well. The ropes were held by Gobber and Stoick, and only tied to something more solid once Snotlout shouted to let them know he had hit bottom. 

“Hey Astrid?” Snotlout squinted into the darkness. “You know how you said there wasn’t a tunnel system?” 

“There is one,” Fishlegs finished, holding up a lantern he had brought with shaky hands. “There’s at least three paths branching off here. All very dark, and very gloomy.” 

“I’m going down too,” Astrid sad, and before Stoick or Gobber could say anything she dropped lightly over the edge and slid smoothly down the rope, landing gracefully in the muddy bottom. Her feet made a squelching sound when they hit. “Eurgh,” She made a face. 

“Wahoo!” The twins shouted as they followed her. They didn’t have a reason, save not wanting to be left out. “Secret caves, here we come!” It was impossible to tell who was saying what, or if they were speaking in tandem for some reason. 

Astrid sighed and rolled her eyes. 

“Are you guys all goin’?” Gobber asked in bewilderment, leaning over the edge and peering down at the teens brushing dust and mud off their pants. “We only meant fer two of ye ta go, as an experience thin’.” 

“This way, we’ll all get experience,” Astrid called back. “Alright, gang, let’s split up and look for clues. Snotlout, Fishlegs, you’re together because that’s what the chief said when this started.” She turned to the Twins. “You two are obviously together, and I’ll take the third path myself.” A bit of sunlight glinted on her axe. She looked back up at where Stoick and Gobber were still leaning over and watching. “Can we have two more lanterns down here?” 

Gobber muttered something about crazy teenages before stumping off to retrieve to requested items. “Here ya go, ye madlin’s.” 

“Thanks!” Astrid called. They had been unceremoniously tossed down, but she managed to catch them before they shattered upon the ground. She handed the Twins one and kept the other for herself. “See you guys back here in an hour, alright?” 

“How will we know when it’s been an hour?” Fishlegs hald tightly to his lantern. “We can’t see the sun down here.” 

Astrid thought for a moment. “There will probably be other openings,” She said. “If not, come back after a bit to check.” With that, she started jogging down one of the tunnels, leaving the others to decide who took which. 

“We get the right one,” Tuffnut yelled after a brief scuffle with his sister, and they ran down there, shoving each other into the walls as they went. 

“That leaves that one,” Fishlegs pointed at the remaining tunnel, which was even darker than the other two had been. 

“Right, now give me the lantern.” Snotlout grabbed for it. “I’ll lead.” 

“Oh, no you don’t!” Fishlegs held it high above his head and out of Snotlout’s reach. “You’ll take it and run off, leaving me in the dark!” 

“No I wouldn’t!” Snotlout protested. “Why would I do that?” 

“Well, why do you want the lantern so much?” Fishlegs asked suspiciously. Then he smiled a little. “Is the big bad Jorgenson scared of the dark?” 

“No!” Snotlout said, looking away and down the hall. “Look, just. . .just forget it, let’s go.” 

Fishlegs laughed as they went down the hall. The walls were still damp and the floor—if it couls be called that—muddy, but it was relatively easy going. A faint rumbling was heard. Snotlout and Fishlegs looked around nervously, but it faded away in only a minute or so. “That was creepy,” Snotlout whispered, and Fishlegs nodded frantically. 

\---------------------- 

“Wonder what all is down here,” Tuffnut said, swinging the lantern from side to side. “You think there might be monsters? Ugly beasts?” 

“Other than you? No.” Ruffnut laughed and ran a hand along the wall. “Gimme the lantern, will ya?” 

“Why?” Tuffnut held it up to the wall, looking carefully at the grooves that rand lengthwise along it. 

“Because I want a turn,” Ruffnut snatched for it and managed to grab, wresting Tuffnut for a bit. She kicked him in the shins and wrested it away while he hopped around, saying, “Oh, I am hurt! I am very much hurt!” 

“Stop being a drama queen,” She told him, looking at the grooves in turn. “What do you think caused these?” 

“A monster,” Tuffnut said, without missing a beat of hopping. 

“Stop doing that,” She said scornfully. “We’re on a mission, idiot.” 

“If I'm an idiot you’re. . .you’re a bigger idiot!” He accidentally hopped into her. Ruffnut accidentally dropped the lantern, and it went out. 

“Look what you did!” She yelled, groping about the darkness. She found Tuffnut and kicked him in the shins again. While it didn’t help the situation, it was a good way to relieve her frustration. 

“Hey, don’t blame me, I’m not the one who dropped it,” He said. “What do we do now?” 

“Head back?” 

“Yeah, that’s a good plan.” 

They walked for several yards, stumbling about and crashing into each other and the walls. “Shouldn’t we be back by now?” Ruff said. Tuffnut was leading, because Ruffnut decided to let him be the test dummy for possible pitfalls. 

“Oh, yeah, I led us down a branching tunnel a few yards back,” She felt his shoulders shrug beneath her hand. “I thought we might as well keep exploring, y’know?” 

“Ah, good idea,” She nodded, though that couldn’t be seen in the murky blackness. 

The rumbling noise sounded. “Sounds almost like creepy whispering,” Tuff said. He tilted his head towards the noise. “I think it’s getting closer.” 

“Nah, I think it’s headed further away,” Ruff tilted her head as well, but in the opposite direction. 

“Closer!” 

“Further!” 

A roar interrupted Tuffnut’s next yell of “Closer!” Two eyes glowed directly in front of the Twins, and they both stumbled back, trying to push behind the other. “What is that?!” Tuffnut yelled, picking up a rock to use as a poor defence. 

The eyes came closer with a speed that should have been impossible, and a whirring noise joined the whispering, which was bouncing off the walls of the tunnel. It all resounded in a confusing jumble, disorienting the Twins even more. 

Suddenly the eyes dipped and went into the ground below them. They glanced around, thouroughly freaked out. “Where’d it go?” Ruffnut asked, going back to back with her brother. “Where is it?” 

The ground beneath them burst open and they were propelled upwards through the roof. “Augh!” Tuffnut screamed. “We’re all gonna die!” They burst into the open air again, and the twins sheilded their eyes against the light, even though the sky was overcast. 

They finally got a good look at the creature. It was a long grey dragon, with no legs but lots of spikes and teeth. “Holy Thor!” Tuff didn’t lower his volume at all. 

“Holy Thor?!” Ruffnut yelled back as they began their descent. “Holy Thor?! That’s all you’ve got to say? We’re gonna fall right into that things huge mouth and all you can say?! This is a ‘Holy Odin, Hela, Thor, and Loki situation, dear brother, and I expect you to act like it!” 

“Fine then!” Tuffnut kicked his legs as they landed on the thing’s nose. Ruffnut only barely clung to the horn in the middle of its snout, preventing a direct path to its gaping maw. They realized the teeth spun, making the odd whirring sound. “Holy Odin, Thor, Hela, and Loki!” 

“That’s much better!” Ruffnut grunted and used Tuff’s outstretched hand to pull herself up on its head. They were now sitting on its face, and the pale pink eyes glared at them. It didn’t look too thrilled to have its prey sitting upon its face, and the Twins weren’t thrilled to be on their hunter, so everyone was just irritable and scared. “Now how do we get off this thing without getting eaten?” 

\------------------- 

Astrid walked the tunnels with her axe in one hand and her lantern in the other. She took careful not of the weird grooves on the wall, and the whispering noise that would increase and decrease in volume. There seemed to be no pattern to it, and that frustrated her to no end. 

After a while the tunnel sloped up and she could see light. She decided to take a break and breath the fresh air for a minute while she gathered and think over the things she had so far. Which wasn’t much: odd noises, tunnels that looked like enlarged mole tunnels and had grooves, and all the water was gone. Nothing at all helpful to sourcing it. 

The whispering noise reappeared, close by, too close for comfort. She raised her axe a little higher. Not that it would do that much good, but it was a nice confidence booster. 

The idea of something--something alive—making the tunnels made her shiver slightly as she blinked in the light. Something that big, living under her island. . .not a good thing. She wondered whether there were underground dragons, and, if so, what they might be like. 

To answer her question, right in front of her something huge, long, and grey burst out of the ground. It flew just above the tree line and dropped back down, and screams were heard as it descended. 

“Ruffnut?” Astrid gaped up at the sky where she could see the Twins flailing as they came down on top of the thing’s head. “Tuffnut? What is that thing?!” It wasn’t like they could answer, but the screaming felt right. She aimed her axe carefully and threw it at the beast. It made a small cut in its hide, but nothing else. It writhed like a worm that has been picked up. 

The Twins tumbled off the thing’s head and onto the ground—thankfully into a pile of pine needles. The scrambled to their feet and Tuff threw a rock into one of its eyes. It hissed and whipped its head around to glare at him. Tuffnut smiled nervously. “She did it!” He pointed at Ruffnut, who had been slightly more practical and grabbed a tree branch. 

Ruffnut smacked him on the back with her stick, then brandished it at the dragon—for it was a dragon, if an alien looking one—and running forward a few steps. “Come at me!” She yelled. 

Astrid dove for her axe and scooped it up again, sliding over to stand by the twins. “You guys found it!” She said breathlessly. “Uh, what is it?” 

“I call it--” Tuffnut waved his arms dramatically. “The Long-Slithery-Worm-Dragon.” 

“We’re not calling it that,” Ruffnut elbowed him. 

“You’re just mad because you didn’t come up with it,” Tuffnut said airily. He picked up a pinecone and chucked it at the thing’s other eye. 

\---------------- 

“How long have we been down here?” Snotlout groaned. “It’s got to have been at least an hour. I can’t believe we’re down here on some stupid mission rather than doing something actually important. I’m too cool for this stuff.” 

“Stop whining,” Fishlegs said grumpily. “We can’t always ride dragons, we’ve got to do what the chief says.” 

“Can we at least take that tunnel up and breath for a bit? I’m getting cramped down here.” Snotlout yawned. 

“. . .Alright, but not for long.” Fishlegs sounded reluctant but in reality he was just fine with it. “We do have to find out what the problem is. 

“I know that,” He said grumpily. “I’ve got the message. You’ve told me three times in the past hour.” 

“We haven’t even been down here an hour!” Fishlegs exclaimed as the clawed their way into the light. “Good Thor, what’s happening?!” He yelled. For they had, on some wild chance, managed to burst in on where the Twins and Astrid were fighting the thing. 

“What is that?!” Snotlout nearly fell backwards in surprise. 

“That’s not in the Book of Dragons!” Fishlegs squeaked. 

“Snotlout!” Astrid saw them. “Fishlegs! Get over here and do something!” Tuffnut tossed another pinecone at it. “Tuff, stop making it mad without actual progress!” 

“But it’s my special skill!” 

“Tuff!” 

“Fine!” He dropped the pinecone he had been aiming and crossed his arms. “I hope you guys came prepared,” He nodded at Fishlegs and Snotlout, who had just been standing there in shock. “Because none of us do.” 

“Of course we don’t have a plan!” Fishleg’s voice was shrill. “We got here after you! Why would we have a plan?!” 

“Because you’re the smart one, Fishy!” Tuffnut threw his hands in the air. This attracted the thing’s attention, which had previously been focused on the newcomers. “Oh. Woops.” 

“Tuffnut!” Astrid swung her axe at the dragon, catching it in the side of the head. “Everyone, try and surround it! It’s outnumbered!” 

“It’s outnumbered and we’re outsized!” Snotlout howled, diving and sliding a few feet to avoid the thing as it lunged for him. “How are we supposed to beat it?” 

“We don’t need to beat it, only get it off the island!” Astrid looked around, taking in the trees and general topography. “We’re miles from the village and haven’t been gone long enough to cause worry from anyone. Call your dragons.” 

A series of whistles and other calls sounded, and in a few minutes—which were spent dodging and throwing things at the thing—the dragons appeared, running or flying low to the ground. After a few clumsy attempts the group was mounted, hanging on to spines or horns as best they could as they circled the larger creature. “Find it’s blind spot!” Astrid said as she and Stormfly dove by its right side. “Every dragon has one!” 

“I think it is blind!” Fishlegs called, fluttering just a few feet from one of its bulbous eyes. “I don’t think it sees very well.” He bonked it gently with his hand, then squeaked and steered Meatlug away from it as it did the hissing-slash-roaring noise at him. “Good senses of smell, hearing, and touch though!” 

“No pain, no gain!” Snotlout and Hookfang looped up and over its head, and Snotlout dropped onto its spiny back. “Snotlout, Snotlout, oi oi oi!” He yelled, hanging onto its crest of spikes. Hookfang hovered near by, shooting periodic bursts of flame at the grey dragon. 

“Oh, Thor,” Astrid murmured, looking at the scene. 

The Twins weren’t even trying to plan, they were just flying back and forth lazily and shouting out insults. “Turd face! No brain!” Tuffnut yelled, grinning far wider than should have been humanly possible. “Oversized worm! Unlovable chicken!” Ruffnut taunted, hanging upside down by her legs. 

“Could we at least try to be productive?” Astrid asked loudly as Snotlout was finally thrown off. Hookfang made no move to catch him, but rather watched in what Astrid was sure was dragonly amusement. “Seriously, we’ve only got a little bit before the adults come looking for us!” 

That got the group’s attention. They slowly pulled themselves into a V-formation behind Astrid, and the other dragon began following them. Apparently, the Twin’s insults riled It up enough to want revenge. 

“Past the cliff and dive!” Astrid ordered, beginning the maneuver herself. Everyone followed, including the new dragon. 

“Nasty catching up, six o’clock!” Fishlegs glanced behind him; he was the last in the formation at the moment, and, understandably, rather nervous. 

“Good!” Tuff called back. “It’s only eleven in the morning!” 

Suddenly It screeched and spun around, burrowing into the rock faster than the Riders could blink. Rocks and dust fell in its wake, and Astrid noticed a gap in the clouds. “It doesn’t like the light!” She realized. “We need to drive it aboveground again!” 

“On it!” Snotlout gripped Hookfang’s horns and dove into the tunnel after It. Hookfang cought on fire—he had the decency to give Snotlout seating room this time—and Snotlout let out a cry of “Snotlout, Snotlout! Oi oi oi!” as the flaming dragon tore through the underground labyrinth. 

“Follow them from above!” Astrid commanded, whirling Stormfly up and over the woods, following the glimpses of fire that peeked out of tunnel exits. “We can surround it and drive it off if we’re fast enough.” 

“What if we’re not fast enough?” Fishlegs raised a hand, but quickly placed it back on one of Meatlug’s bumps. 

“Oh, nothing much,” Tuffnut said brightly. “Only we get caught by the grown-ups, the village runs out of water, we probably get kicked off of the island, and Snotlout might die.” 

“That last one doesn’t sound so bad,” Ruffnut snickered. 

“Could we focus?” Astrid yelled. “Five minutes here, guys, that’s all I’m asking.” 

“Is that all you’re asking because that’s all you’ve got?” 

“I’m going to ignore that,” Astrid decided. Stormfly pulled up short, beating her wings frantically to stop. “What is it, girl?” Astrid asked, holding onto her dragon’s horns for balance. 

A second later It and Snotlout and Hookfang came tearing out of a hole, Hookfang still ablaze. “Woohoo!” Snotlout whooped as Hookfang snapped at Its tail. 

“Yeah, Snotlout!” Astrid found herself cheering. “You’re the Viking!” 

This was an unfortunate thing, for it so distracted the Jorgenson that he stopped paying attention to gaze wonderingly at her. “She called me the Viking,” He said, half to himself and half to Hookfang, who just snorted. And in that momentary loss of attention, Hookfang and Snotlout smashed into a tree, leaving ‘The Viking’ hanging by his waistcoat from a tree branch. 

Astrid sighed. Stormfly made a dive for It, coming so close that Astrid could have reached out and touched It. Indeed, she did so, grabbing tightly to Its spikes to swing up and on. She yanked its head upwards towards a gap in the clouds. The sun chose that opportune moment to show its face, shining directly into Its face. 

It shrieked an unholy shriek, which was soon followed by a terrible hissing noise. It shook Its head violently back and forth, sending Astrid tumbling to the ground. It shrieked once more, giving the Riders a look that they later swore was a glare, and flew off to the east, away from the sun’s rays. 

Fishlegs rushed to help Astrid, and the Twins—well, the Twins stood beneath Snotlout and laughed at him. 

Until he fell on top of them, at which point the role of those who were laughing was reversed. “Muttonheads,” Snotlout boked them both on the helmets and got off, kicking Tuff in the knee as he walked away. 

“Alright, guys,” Astrid raised her hands to regain some semblance of order. “You know the drill—or will soon—disperse your dragons, and start coming up with reasonable explanations for how we got rid of It.” Fishlegs and Snotlout walked over and joined her. 

“Reasonable? Who’s that?” Tuffnut was dragged over to the huddle by the horns on his helmet. Ruffnut had a rather strong grip, and he was leaning slightly to the side as she walked along. “Never heard of her.” 

“Me neither,” Ruffnut laughed and let go of him with a slight shove, knocking him into Snotlout. 

“Watch it!” Snotlout protested, pushing Tuffnut off him and into Fishlegs. Poor Tuff was basically a pinball now, bouncing off Riders and grinning the whole time. “Keep your brother to yourself! Honestly. . .” 

“Guys,” Astrid interrupted. “Now is not the time. We need an excuse and probably a name for the Thing—other than ‘Thing’, or course,” She shot down Tuffnut’s comment before it could take off. 

“Hushed-thing-that-stalks-you,” Tuffnut said theatrically. “Creepy-tunnel-beast.” 

“No, and no,” Astrid sighed. “Anyone else?” 

“Spiney death!” Snotlout said loudly. 

“Whispering Tunneler?” Fishlegs raised his hand timidly. 

“Smash them together!” Ruffnut made a smooshing gesture with her hands. “Spiney Tunneler! Whispering Death!” 

“Whispering Death!” Astrid shouted before someone could come up with another ridiculous option. “That’s a good one, we’ll go with that.” She thought for a moment. “And if anyone asks, we just yelled a lot and that scared it off. Yelling is a good, Vikingly technique.” 

“You do realize,” Snotlout said. “That this—riding dragons and lying—is some of the most un-Vikingly behavior out there? Like, we’re probably huge traitors right about now.” 

“It’s not traitorous if it doesn’t hurt anybody,” Astrid said, feeling her heart sink just a little bit. “Besides,” She added hurriedly. “We’re protecting the island from other things, it’s not like we’re turning against Berk.” 

“We’re helping unconventionally,” Fishlegs nodded. “It’s. . .probably ok. Maybe. Kinda-” 

“Thanks, Fishlegs,” Astrid shot him a look. “Alright, time to disperse, we’ve got excuses to make a dragons to hide, not to mention an entry to make in the Book of Dragons,” She gave Fishlegs another look, this one of encouragement. “Good luck on that, I’ll see you for training tonight.” 

“Tonight?” Snotlout exclaimed. “But we’ve just won, like, a battle! Don’t we get a break or something?” 

“You’ve won one battle,” Astrid corrected, hefting her axe over her shoulder. “There will be more, and we need to be prepared.” 

With some mumbling everyone left in different directions, leaving Astrid to think about what Snotlout had said about this being treachery. 

“It’s not,” She told herself as she began her trek to her house. “It’s not, because it’s for the greater good. . .but wasn’t that what tyrants said?” 

Her thoughts ran wild. She opened the door to her hut without speaking to either of her parents, merely waving and mumbling “We got the Whispering Death to leave.” before walking up the stairs to her room. 

“Hiccup,” She thought. “Where are you when I need you?” 

\----------------


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guard leaned in as well, despite himself. He listened eagerly as Ruffnut said: 
> 
> “You stink,” She whispered. “Like year old yak dung left out in the sun to rot. There’s a horrible stench that follows you around, and you’re dumber than a box of rocks, maybe even dumber than my brother!” 
> 
> The guard’s mouth open and shut a few times, unable to say anything about this sudden onslaught of insults. “Your brother?” He said at last. 
> 
> A dead tree fell on him, pinning him to the ground. “Sike!” yelled a muffled voice from within the trunk. Out of where the roots of the tree should have been there were two feet with boots, kicking about frantically. “I got him, right Ruff?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm making the Race to the Edge and Defenders of Berk events happen almost simultaneously because I've already thrown canon out, so why not make it worse?

“Johann!” Hiccup called, landing Toothless on the prow of the trader’s ship, which rocked back and forth on the stormy waves. The wind whipped through Hiccup’s unhooded hair and stung his eyes, and the breath slipping through his mask was a puff smoke. 

Johann gave a start, stumbling back several feet. He had only jumped a little, but the wind was so strong that it blew him back a little bit. “Master Haddock!” He yelled above the weather’s din. “Do come belowdecks, I have the ship anchored quite securely!” 

“Thank you,” Hiccup gasped once they were in Johann’s cabin, tugging off his mask. “Nice of you.” 

“Of course, Master Haddock.” Johann bowed, eyeing where Toothless was trying to be careful and not knock any of the fragile knick-knacks over. “Might I ask the reason for this pleasurable visit? Or have you merely come to hear my great tales of adventure?” 

Hiccup winced. Only slightly, so that Johann didn’t see. “No, I came for a map. And other information, like where to resupply food and all that.” He sat down carefully on a chair that didn’t look particularly nice, so as not to drip too much water and mud on important furniture. “I’m nearly out.” 

Johann clapped his hands and looked astonished. “Nearly out? My dear boy, what have you been doing?” 

“Getting discovered by my father,” Hiccup sighed and waved his arms around a little bit. “Kicked off my island officially. Creating a secret defense group to defend the island under my father—Stoick's nose.” He corrected himself on the use of ‘Father,’ Stoick had made it clear he didn’t want Hiccup as a son, and as much as it pained him, Hiccup couldn’t blame him for it. Who wanted a traitor for a son? 

“That is a pity, Master Hiccup.” Johann clicked his tongue. “Reminds me of the time--” 

“Hey, Johann,” Hiccup interrupted. He noticed the use of his first rather than last name, and wasn’t sure whether he appreciated it or not. “Do you have a map or not?” 

“Oh!” The trader clapped his hands and pulled a large piece of paper out of a drawer. “Yes! Here, this should be good!” 

Hiccup looked it over closely, noting the detailed little mountains and waves. There were even a few large dragons marked off on it. “Thank you,” He said. “I can work with this.” 

“Work with?” Johann leaned closer to inspect the map with Hiccup. “What exactly are you planning, young master?” 

“I’m going to be a wanderer,” Hiccup smiled, remembering all his childhood dreams—for he wasn’t a child anymore—of sailing off to adventure. Of course, he wasn’t going to be sailing, but dragon back was even better. “Exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new dragon life and tribal civilizations, to boldly go where no Viking has gone before!” He spread his arms out wide, and Toothless roared his agreement. 

“That sounds very nice,” Johann nodded. “So, you’ll add onto the map? Do come to me with updates, dear boy, it would be such a helpful service.” 

“Of course,” Hiccup said without hesitation. “It’d be kind of rude not to, what with all you’ve done for me.” He leaned back in the chair, stretching his good foot out and pulling the metal one up to sit on. 

“It appears it is my turn to thank you, then,” Johann brought a couple sandwiches and some tea over before sitting in the nicer chair across from Hiccup. “I am sure your additions will be of the highest quality.” 

“I’ll make it so,” Hiccup promised, sipping his tea. “Mind if I stay through, uh, through the storm?” He was aware that this meant stories would be told, but he preferred that to braving the wind and rain. The storm had come from the north—even further north, which is stupidly far north—and was a cold one, with hail and sleet mixed with the regular rain. 

“But of course!” Johann exclaimed. “I shall regale you with tales of my adventures!” He went off about cannibals, then, and Hiccup found himself nodding along until he nodded off. 

\--------------- 

“The Outcasts are goin’ ta attack again, Stoick,” Spitelout slammed his fist o the table. “Ye know what Alvin is like—we all do! We can’t jus’ sit here an’ twiddle our thumbs while he’s out there plottin’!” 

Stoick sighed and shook his head. “I know, Spitelout. I know him better than any o’ ye. So, I agree we shall not just sit here an’ ‘Twiddle our thumbs’, as ye say. But we need to have a plan, a good one, to put a stop to this for good.” 

“Tha’s what ye said about the dragons!” Mildew was not part of the Council, but he didn’t care. He would turn up at meetings, anyway, grumping about everything Stoick or anyone who agreed with him said. “An’ look what happened there! Son’s a traitor--” 

“Oh, do shut up, ye barnacle bearded son of an eel,” Gobber rolled his eyes. “Go back to yer cabbages, why don’t ye?” 

Stoick nodded his thanks and turned back to Spitelout. “So, if ye’ve got ideas, give them to me, an’ I'll look ‘em over.” 

“Sounds good,” Spitelout found himself agreeing. “Better than most of yer ideas, anyway.” He added, to make sure that Stoick didn’t think he was a yes-man now. “I’ll got think up some stuff.” 

The other Council members mumbled in agreement and dispersed, talking amongst themselves. Stoick and Gobber remained, sipping their drinks in silence. 

The torches and center fire flickered and hissed and spat, blazing away. Rain could be heard pounding on the roof of the Great Hall, the wind howling like wolves to be let in. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed, but still they stayed quiet, two men caring not for the outside world. 

\------------- 

“They’re going to attack Alvin first?” Fishlegs asked in surprise. The gang sat in Hiccup’s old room, which they had decided was a good, unexpected place to discuss dragons and plans involving them without being discovered. “We don’t ever attack anyone first!” 

“The element of surprise,” Astrid mused. “An oldie but a goodie. It’s not a bad idea.” 

“I like it!” Tuffnut punched the air. “It’s bold, cunning. . .just like me.” 

Ruffnut bonked him on the head. 

“I like it too,” Snotlout agreed. “It’s about time we started going after people who go after us. I bet my dad came up with it.” He said with pride. 

“Pfft,” Tuffnut snorted. “Your dad couldn’t come up with a plan to raise sheep with a book in front of him.” 

Snotlout yelled and tackled him, and in a second the two boys were rolling on the floor insulting each other. 

Astrid sighed. “So, Fishlegs, while they fight, have any ideas on how to help?” 

Fishlegs blinked. “Um, aren’t we staying here? That’s what all the underaged do-” He remembered, then, that he was a warrior. “Oh. Well, if we go, we should do our best to be warriors and all that. But I'm assuming you mean dragon-wise. Maybe we can teach them to follow from a distance?” 

“I’m thinking we should leave them,” Astrid said thoughtfully. “We have to prove that there is a way that we’re doing things, so we can avoid suspicion when we do use dragons.” 

“But then we don’t have a safety net!” Fishlegs hopped to the side as Snotlout and Tuffnut rolled by. Ruff was cheering Snotlout on and kicking at her brother whenever he came within range, and Tuff was biting her ankle, but other than that he was wholely focused on Snotlout’s next move. Fishlegs huffed disdainfully and continued. “I mean, no back up, Astrid.” 

“No one’s had dragons for back up before,” Astrid pointed out, shrugging. “Our ancestors have been doing just fine for seven generations, I think we can manage.” 

“Our ancestors have an incredibly high death rate,” Fishlegs said gloomily, but at a look from Astrid he snapped into a fake-happy pose. “I mean, yeah! We’ll be fine!” The worry seeped into his voice, but Astrid took what she could get. 

“Right,” Astrid got up and hauled Snotlout off Tuffnut by his ear while Ruffnut laughed. “Everyone, go home, we’ve got a long voyage tomorrow.” 

\----------------- 

“Thanks again for letting us stay, Johann.” Hiccup waved with one hand and pulled the mask and hood up with the other. He swung onto Toothless, who was excited to be off again. It was still raining, but the thunder and sleet had stopped, so Hiccup had decided to go on his way. “Is there any way I can message you?” 

“Not that I know of,” Johann shook his head and wrung his hands. “I am not aware of a mail system that allows for constant moving of addresses.” 

Hiccup thought for a minute. “I’ll think of something. If you get a weirdly delivered message any time, assume it’s from me.” 

“Sounds like a plan, Master Hiccup,” Johann waved, and Toothless took off into the clouds. 

Hiccup leaned down and whispered into the dragon’s ear. “Let’s see if we can get out of this miserable rain, hey bud?” Toothless warbled and shot upwards, streaking through the clouds into the brightness above them. “Yeah, baby!” Hiccup yelled, throwing his hands in the air. 

They flew for hours, dipping beneath the clouds every so often to check for landmarks. The rock formations became stranger and stranger, and Hiccup became more and more edgy. “Dip one more time, bud.” Toothless obliged, stooping as far as he had usually. But this time they didn’t slip beneath the clouds into the rain, they were just met with more clouds. “Go back, Toothless,” Hiccup tugged on the saddle and clicked his leg around. They spun around and backwards, into the drizzle that they had become accustomed to. When they looked back around, they saw the fog bank, the one that led to Dragon Island and beyond. 

“Well, we don’t have anything to lose,” Hiccup said nervously, gripping the saddle tightly with his right hand and patting Toothless’ heat with his left. “Let’s go.” 

\------------------- 

“We have everybody?” Stoick shouted up to Gobber, who was the last person on the dock. 

“Everyone who’s ‘sposed to be comin’, yeh,” Gobber grunted and swung himself onto Stoick’s boat. He sighed and brushed the front of his shirt off. “Mildew jus’ ‘bout threw a fit ‘bout not bein’ ‘lowed to come, but he’s the las’ thin’ we need righ’ now.” 

Stoick nodded. “Thanks, Gobber.” He said, and he walked up to the prow of the boat. He went over the instructions one more time, and they were off, sailing to the east towards Outcast Island. 

Hours passed, in mist and a miserable drippy rain, but they were there at last, the craggy rocks of the Outcast shoreline jabbing into the fog. A few patrolmen walked up and down the beach, but all the ships were empty and unmanned, lacking even a single sailor. 

Stoick motioned for the ships to go over to the other side of the island, which was all cliff. They anchored in a cleft that was as big as a cave. The unloading of the ships proved difficult, but they managed, sending a few through the icy waters with ropes, tying them, and having the rest follow by clinging onto those ropes. 

‘A few’ were, to be more specific, the newer warriors, and so Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the Twins were standing on the shore shivering in their soaked boots. “This is dumb,” Snotlout muttered between chattering teeth. “We could just fly here in the night, but noooo, we have to go with the adults.” 

“Alright, Snotlout,” Astrid retorted, folding her arms tightly over her body for warmth. “You explain why the island was destroyed conveniently before the adults were coming, and why we weren’t present for the rundown of the plan last night.” 

Snotlout huffed and helped drag another warrior up the beach. The wind whistled around the bay, shrieking against the rocks and freezing the water on the Viking’s clothes. The whole group shivered, even when everyone was on shore, and waited anxiously for Stoick to say something. 

“Aight,” The chief rubbed his hands together and blew on them in a failing attempt to warm them. “We go in on the east side of the village, and someone’s gotta distract the gaurds.” 

“I volunteer!” Tuffnut yelled, raising his hand with a speed that Astrid didn’t know he had. “I’m great at distracting people! I’m the best at it!” 

“Tha’ ye are,” Gobber muttered to himself, then slightly louder: “He’s righ’, Chief. He an’ his sister are the mos’ chaotic kids I’ve ever had the misfortune of tainin’.” 

“Aw,” Ruffnut smiled. “Thanks.” 

“It wasn’ a complimen’-” Gobber started, but then shrugged and waved his hook in the air. “Whatever, get on wi’ ye.” 

The twins cackled and ran off, pebbles skittering out from under their feet. Fishlegs, Astrid, and Snotlout stood there, still shivering, and Snotlout actually leaned against Fishlegs, whispering “Not a word.” When Fishlegs opened his mouth to speak. 

“The rest of you,” Stoick pointed at them. “Are comin’ with the adults. Experience, an’ all tha’.” 

“Yes, sir.” Astrid dragged the boys over to stand with the older Vikings. Stoick began leading the group up the beach, the crunch of sleet and stones marking their path. 

\------------- 

There was nothing to be seen in the fog. No birds or dragons cried into what Hiccup knew must be the night, nothing splashed beneath them except the waves. A few times they nearly smacked into sea stacks, but other than that there was only eerie silence. 

“If this goes on much longer, we should turn back,” Hiccup said. “I don’t even know if we’re still going west.” He sighed and flopped back, resting a hand on Toothless’ wing. It only beat every few minutes, otherwise they were just gliding. It was peaceful, if disconcerting. 

Hiccup closed his eyes, but after a while he had to turn his head. “Stupid sun,” He mumbled. Then he sat up, grabbing onto the front part of the saddle again. “Sun! Toothless, go there!” He pointed frantically to where the shaft of light was coming from, and Toothless swerved towards it. They burst into the sun, and Hiccup gasped. “Woah,” He said softly. 

Before them was beyond Hiccup’s wildest dreams of what they would find. Islands were scattered across the glittering sea, and he could even see a few dragons flying about. Toothless dove down, down towards the water, doing a barrel roll so that Hiccup got dunked. 

Hiccup laughed and whooped, letting his hood down and pulling his mask off. He breathed in the salt air, closing his eyes and enjoying the sun upon his face. 

\---------------- 

A gust of wind nearly blew Astrid off the cliffside. She shuddered slightly, looking at the ground over fifty feet below her. She gripped the rock beneath her hands a little tighter and shoved her feet further into the crack. She took a deep breath and moved upwards, inching closer and closer to the dangling rope. 

Just as her feet slipped off the rock, she reached out and grabbed the rope, clinging to it like a spider to its web. Snotlout tugged her up, with Fishlegs helping as much as he could. She scrabbled over the overhanging rock until she was kneeling, panting, on the rock ledge. Fishlegs helped her up, ignoring Snotlout’s glare. 

Stoick glanced back at them. “You all ready?” 

All three teens nodded, and the whole group—adults and kids side by side—followed their chief towards the Outcast village. 

\------------------ 

Ruff scrambled over a few boulders and slid down on her knees in front of an Outcast watchman. The watchman blinked in confusion and took a step back, looking more startled than anything. 

Ruffnut grinned. “Greetings, my good sir!” She got to her feet and dusted herself off with a bow. “I’ve got a surprise for you, you know.” 

“. . .What?” The guard asked hesitantly, eyeing her. He raised his spear ever so slightly, but there was no real menace behind the action. 

“Just a message,” Ruffnut leaned in confidentially. 

The guard leaned in as well, despite himself. He listened eagerly as Ruffnut said: 

“You stink,” She whispered. “Like year old yak dung left out in the sun to rot. There’s a horrible stench that follows you around, and you’re dumber than a box of rocks, maybe even dumber than my brother!” 

The guard’s mouth open and shut a few times, unable to say anything about this sudden onslaught of insults. “Your brother?” He said at last. 

A dead tree fell on him, pinning him to the ground. “Sike!” yelled a muffled voice from within the trunk. Out of where the roots of the tree should have been there were two feet with boots, kicking about frantically. “I got him, right Ruff?” 

“_We_ got him,” She corrected, pushing the tree up and grunting. “Now get out of that thing, we’ve got to meet up with the others.” __

_ _The tree-that-was-Tuff wobbled back and forth for a moment, then held still. “I seem to be stuck.” Said the muffled voice. _ _

_ _Ruffnut punched the bark. “How’d you get stuck?” _ _

_ _“I’m in a tree, Ruffnut!” _ _

_ _“Fair enough,” She shrugged. “Well, we’ve still got to meet up with the tribe, soooo. . .” She grabbed onto one of the short branches and began dragging her tree-brother up the slope. “C’mon, we’re gaining this grain.” _ _

_ _“Hey!” Tuffnut protested. He had to take short, quick steps, because the trunk of the tree so limited his movements. “Careful! I’m a tree, here!” _ _

_ _“You’re a slow tree,” Ruffnut said grumpily, not slowing a bit. “But we’ve got places to be, people to meet, and normalcy to defeat, so get going.” _ _

_ _\------------------ _ _

_ _Stoick and Gobber crouched behind the largest rock they had been able to find, which was arguably pretty big. Big enough to cover not just one but two full-size Vikings, never mind how cramped it was. They held as still as possible, barely breathing as they waited for the Twins. _ _

_ _“It’s been two hours,” Stoick muttered. “They shoulda been back by now.” _ _

_ _“Stoick, look,” Gobber said, laying a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Those two are tha best at distractin’. They’re pro’ly jes’ bein’ thorough, tha’s all.” _ _

_ _“What if they’re not, though?” Stoick made an attemot to shrug him off, but Gobber just replaced his hand—fortunately not the hook—and Stoick let it be. “It woul’ be my faul’, an’ I don’ wan’--” _ _

_ _“The Thorstons to go through wha’ ye did wi’ Hiccup, yeh,” Gobber nodded, and his tone held no trace of mockery or jesting. “But they’re not, alrigh’? It was my idea, anyway, so there.” _ _

_ _Stoick just nodded and kept watching. Soon enough, a lone figure with blonde hair appeared, and stumbling alongside them was—a tree? _ _

_ _“Is. . .is that a walkin’ tree?” Stoick murmured to Gobber, not quite believing his eyes. _ _

_ _“Oh, good,” Gobber whispered back, moustache tickling Stoick’s ears a little. The chief shook his head to get away from the hair. “Yer seein’ it too. Yeh, I think tha’s a tree. Who knew? Tha’ trees could walk, I mean.” He stood up, checked to make sure there were no guards or other sorts of watchmen around, then waved his hook around in the air. _ _

_ _The sun glinted off the metal, catching Ruffnut’s eye. “Ah, they’re over there!” She said cheerfully, tugging on Tuffnut’s branches without caring for the fact that he almost toppled over. “Hey guys!” She plopped down next to Snotlout, grinning at the three teens that had stayed behind. _ _

_ _The tree wobbled slightly, then steadied itself. “Yeah, hey guys!” It said cheerfully, and Fishlegs fell backwards in surprise. “That’s hurtful,” The tree said, sounding annoyed. “And I was so happy to see you guys.” _ _

_ _“Tuffnut?!” Astrid leaned forward, staring at the bark incredulously. “Why are you a tree? How’d you get in there? Why won’t you get out?” _ _

_ _“He’s stuck,” Ruffnut explained, at the same time as Tuff said: “I’m stuck.” _ _

_ _Astrid rolled her eyes and ran a whetstone over her axe. Snotlout started at the tree-that-was-Tuff for a minute longer, he and Fishlegs wearing matching expressions of confusion. Most of the adults gave questioning glances, but, after only one brief look, Gobber shrugged and went back to discussing the plan with Stoick. _ _

_ _“So, we jes’ barge in there?” Gobber jabbed his hook at the arena—which looked an awful lot like Berk’s. Gobber supposed that Alvin wanted to keep a faint trace of home with him. “I mean, the Twins must’a done a pretty good job wi’ the guards, ‘cos I don’ see any down there, but it’s still a bit forward, don’ ye think?” _ _

_ _Stoick nodded. “Tha’s why I’m goin’ in first.” He got to his feet and shrugged his shoulders to get the creases out of his cloak. _ _

_ _“You must certainly are not.” Gobber objected, giving him the stink eye as he too, got up, and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Ye cannae fight the Outcasts yerself, Stoick.” _ _

_ _“Nay,” Stoick agreed, looking Gobber in the eye. “But I can buy us some time.” _ _

_ _Gobber grasped his friends hand in the ancient Viking way. “An’ I can double tha’ time. _ _

_ _Stoick nodded and smiled. A hint of the young Stoick that Gobber knew as a boy gleamed through the now slightly wrinkled face and the thick beard. “Let’s get that bastard,” Stoick grinned, shouted a couple orders to Spitelout. He and Gobber began their charge to the arena. _ _

_ _\---------------------------------- _ _

_ _After an hour of flying and not being able to pick an island, Hiccup was just about ready to land on the next one, no inspection taken. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky with pinks and golds and purples. The moon was just poking up over the opposite horizon. _ _

_ _Suddenly, Toothless’ ears perked up. His head swiveled from side to side, and his pupils turned into slits. “Bud?” Hiccup laid a hand on the dragon’s head. He was reminded slightly of when he had been flying with Astrid, and the thought made him uneasy. “Bud, what’s up?” _ _

_ _Toothless roared and pulled his wings in, dropping into a free fall. The wind whistled in Hiccup’s ears, and the boy clung to the saddle with all his might. “Uh, anytime you wanna stop. . .” He looked nervously at the fast-approaching water as the setting sun glinted off the waves and made spots dance before his eyes. _ _

_ _Toothless’ wings stretched out at the very last second, and Hiccup quickly snapped his foot into place. The screaming noise and terror of the fall was over so fast it was like a dash of cold water. Hiccup took a deep breath. “Care to explain that, Toothless?” _ _

_ _The dragon, of course, didn’t answer, but banked to the left and came to a stumbling stop on a beach. Hiccup swung off, making sure his foot was on properly. The sand was firm, and they walked up the beach, the tide basically chasing after them as the stars twinkled into sight. _ _

_ _They walked into the woods, Toothless with his horns perked up and nostrils wide. “Whatcha picking up on, bud?” Hiccup asked curiously, pushing a few branches and ferns out of his path. Toothless rumbled a bit, then took off at a quick trot. “Oh, yeah, don’t bother waiting for me.” Hiccup called helplessly after him, limping along. _ _

_ _Suddenly a crashing was heard, the beats of giant wings, and a shriek from Toothless. Hiccup forgot about the limp—well, forget isn’t the right word. He ignored it, turning it into as quick a run as he could possibly manage. “Toothless!” He cried, crashing through the underbrush. _ _

_ _He burst into a clearing, and there was Toothless, encased in a strange substance. Hiccup thought it looked almost like amber, and the Night Fury was tossing his head back and forth, but that did nothing to aid his escape. “Alright, bud, just--” Hiccup thought desperately. “--Just hang on, ok? I’ll think. . .I’ll think of something.” _ _

_ _He was given no time to think before a dragon—large, at least five times Toothless’ size—soared over the clearing, it’s colorful hide silhouetted against the moon. “Holy Thor,” Hiccup murmured as it descended, making an odd noise. _ _

_ _As the noise was made, something strange happened. Toothless went still, pupils nothing but slits, watching the other dragon intently. The other came closer, sniffing the cocooned dragon. _ _

_ _Hiccup stopped thinking. He darted forward, drawing his dagger from its sheath on his arm. “Hey!” He yelled, heading straight towards the two dragons. Toothless’ eyes snapped back into focus, and he roared slightly in warning, ears straight up off his head. _ _

_ _The singing dragon whirled around and roared its own roar at Hiccup—one of anger and, even, mild confusion. Dragons didn’t normally come with toothpicks, after all. And the toothpicks never, ever, came running at her willingly. _ _

_ _Hiccup realized what he was doing, but it was too late to completely change his plan. He ducked to the left as the dragon shot a sticky substance at him. Glancing back, he saw that it had hardened upon hitting the ground. ‘So that’s where that came from,’ He thought, dodging another blast. _ _

_ _The dragon roared once more in frustration and took off, fully intending to come back later. Hiccup fell to the ground, panting, knife only loosely in his hand. He lay there for only a minute before scrambling over to Toothless. “You ok there, bud?” He asked, stroking Toothless’ head. _ _

_ _Toothless warbled quietly, and Hiccup scooched backwards. He looked carefully at the amber casing. There were not cracks, no seams, nothing for Hiccup to pry open. He thought for a second, then raised his knife, poising it right above where the amber seemed the thinnest. _ _

_ _He plunged it downwards. It bounced harmlessly off the smooth surface, and the end even chipped off. “Oh, come on,” Hiccup muttered, feeling the broken tip. It was jagged enough to still do damage, but not as effective for day-to-day things. He sighed, leaning back on his hands to think. _ _

_ _“So, a blade alone isn’t any good,” He said aloud, looking up at the stars. One streaked across the sky, and Hiccup remembered the old tradition of wishing upon shooting stars. “I wish I could get out of here,” He said quietly, petting Toothless’ head. _ _

_ _Several minutes passed with no grand plans showing themselves, so Hiccup went with a rather inferior plan. He picked the dagger back up and dug a stick out of the underbrush. He made sure it was dry, then began sparking his tinder and flint over it. The stick caught on the third try, and Hiccup went back and knelt beside Toothless. He raised the make-shift torch and dagger, plunging them down at the same time towards the same place he had earlier. _ _

_ _Cracks appeared in a spiderweb-like pattern around the point of impact, and Hiccup repeated the action, muttering: “C’mon, c’mon. . .” The cracks spread, and Hiccup tossed the torch down, stomping the flames out with his boot. He jabbed the dagger into a crack, wiggling it back and forth. Chips of the amber came off, scattering on the ground. He dropped the knife next to the extinguished torch and began prying at the gap with his hands. Every so often he would use the knife to wedge another bunch of cracks. _ _

_ _It took almost an hour, but finally Hiccup tugged off a large piece, Toothless spread his wings, and Hiccup fell backwards as the last shards of amber clattered to the ground. Toothless roared and reared up on his back legs. When he came back down to earth he gave Hiccup a lick. “Gross,” Hiccup laughed, shoving him away with one hand and putting his knife back in its sheath. “Well, you wanna get out of here, bud?” He picked up a few pieces of the amber to keep, then turned back to Toothless. _ _

_ _Toothless wiggled a bit and basically threw Hiccup onto him, stretching his wings and taking off. _ _

_ _Just as they cleared the tree line the other dragon returned, opening its mouth to sing. Hiccup quickly leaned down and covered Toothless’ ears, using his knees to keep his balance on the dragon. Toothless roared his defiance at the other dragon. They spun around, and in a minute, they were nothing but a shadow over the stars._ _


	12. I'm Alive, Folks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He was in all the meetin’s, Gobber.” Stoick glowered. Not at anything or anyone in particular, just at the waves and sky. “He heard everythin’. He knows all our plans for plantin’, fishin’, even any attacks that we’ve ever planned. He knows.” Suddenly he turned and punched the rock of the cliffside. “He knows, an’ we have to change everythin’ now.” 
> 
> Gobber shuffled a few steps away from the rock. “Well, ye can’t do anythin’ about it, so. . .” He sighed. “We’re jes’ gonna have to re-do it, like ye said. It’ll turn out alrigh’, eventually.” 
> 
> “Eventually.” Stoick muttered. “Eventually should come sooner.”

Astrid yelled as the Hooligans charged. Within seconds the air was filled with sound, swords and axes clashing together, shouts rang out, rebounding around the walls of the arena. A few people fell to the ground, but Astrid didn’t recognize any of them, so she kept fighting. 

They had chosen to attack in the arena in hopes of channeling the Outcasts in that smaller space, forcing them to only send in limited numbers of soldiers. So far, it was working, though the trickle of replacements hadn’t yet stopped. It would eventually, though, and then the fight would be a bit fairer. 

“Spikelout, Spikelout, oi oi oi!” Shouted the Jorgenson, slicing an Outcast’s weapon in half with a large axe that Astrid recognized as the ancient one of ceremonies. “Take that, ye low down dirty-” 

Whatever other profanities that Spikelout may have shouted, Astrid didn’t hear. Something slashed by her face, too close to her face, and she spun around. An Outcast sword clattered to the ground in front of her. She took a deep breath, wiped some sweat off her face, and kept going. 

More and more Outcasts fell or fled, and soon they stopped entering. They were either afraid or out of re-enforcements. Astrid rather hoped for the latter, as did most of her tribe. 

Suddenly, one more person entered the arena. Tall, broad shouldered, with a bushy beard. His large hand was held up in a sign for pause, and many people did so, for he had a commanding presence. He lowered his hand and walked over to Stoick, who was standing over two unconscious Outcasts that he had just dispatched. “Well, this is a righ’ mess,” Alvin put his hands on his hips and sighed. “What am I to do wi’ these?” He gestured at the bodies. 

“Bury them in honor, I hope,” Stoick glared, not lowering his axe. “Surely you have that much respect for yer warriors that fell in battle.” 

“’Course I do!” Alvin clapped Stoick on the back. “We aren’ complete heathens over here, you know, Stoick. In fact, we aren’ half bad. Yer friend can tell ye that.” 

“What friend?” Stoick was caught off guard by the back slap and the friend comment. “What do ye mean by tha’?” 

“Ye can come out now, ye old cod,” Alvin roared. 

Mildew stepped forward. He hobbled over to Alvin, leaning heavily on his stick. Fungus followed close behind, bleating angrily at anyone within even a few feet of his master. Not that many did, a traitor was worse than dirt to the Hooligans. But the arena was filled with even grosser things at that time, so a few bleats were needed. 

Alvin nodded when Mildew reached him, then turned back to Stoick. “Yer lad here has been most helpful in these take-pver ‘ttempts o’ mine.” He grinned. “Betcha never even suspected him, eh, lad?” 

Stoick stood, axe in hand. Gobber stood behind him, left arm with its sword blade twisted in handing at his side. Mildew sneered and pet Fungus, and the four stood there for a bit. No one said anything for several minutes. 

People eventually started murmuring amongst themselves, about how they always suspected the man was up to something. Of course, they hadn’t, but it was better than admitting they were caught completely off guard. People are funny like that. 

“So, what are ye gonna do now?” Stoick was the one to officially break the silence. He shifted his grip on his axe, never breaking eye contact with Alvin. “We’re all here, but, somehow, even though we’re on yer island, yer outnumbered, so what’re ye goin’ to do ‘bout it?” 

“I’mnot goin’ to do nothin’,” Alvin shrugged. He laughed at the surprise that showed briefly on Stoick’s face. “Wha’, like there’s much of anythin’ else left fer me to do? Ye’ve limited my options. Ye’ve one this round, Stoick ol’ boy.” 

Stoick blinked, then held out his hand. Alvin shook it, and Stoick led the group out of the arena. The Hooligans boarded their ships and sailed off as the sun rose, turning the mist a pale gold. Stoick, in contrast to standing at the prow of the lead ship as he usually did, stood at the back of the last one, watching as Outcast island faded to a speck in the distance. 

\---------------- 

“Alright, this time, I pick the island,” Hiccup said as they flew above the clouds. A few birds flapped past them. Toothless tried to bite at one, but it squawked angrily and pecked at his nose, so he gave up. He huffed at Hiccup for the comment, shaking his head. “Look, no offense, but that last one was terrible. You nearly got eaten by a weird dragon. It’s my turn to pick.” 

Toothless sighed but made no more objections. Hiccup watched he sea below them and the islands that dotted the horizon. At one point they flew over one that was mostly sand with strange holes in several places, but a quick fly-over revealed that long, grey, spiny dragons burrowed through them. Hiccup and Toothless pulled up fast after that, changing their course a little bit more to the north rather than their due of earlier. 

Another island was below them in a few minutes. Unlike the previous one, this was green, covered in forests. In the middle of the island rose twin peaks of a mountain, crowned with white. The sun glinted off the snow. “That one looks nice,” Hiccup said. “Wanna at least look it over?” 

Toothless rumbled and dove. The flew along the cliffsides, of which there were many. Indeed, along the whole shore there was only one place that could possibly be used for a harbor, making attacks by ships unlikely. One cliffside was uneven, more like a rocky hill than a proper cliff. Dragons could be seen soaring over the woods, diving and swooping amonst the rocks. 

“Let’s stay here,” Hiccup decided. Toothless made a noise of question. “Maybe just for the night, but we should check it out. Right?” In answer, the Night Fury dove again, landing on the sand of the beach. “Thanks bud,” Hiccup patted him as he got off, checking his foot. “I’ll set up camp, see if you can catch and fish, will you?” 

Toothless trotted off, plunging his head into the water. Hiccup walked over to few nearby pine trees, scooping up some of the dry needles from the ground along with a few sticks. He made a ring of stones, scooping out some of the sand to make a little pit. The fuel was placed in the fireplace. Hiccup pulled a couple matches out of his bag, then thought for a second. “Hey, Toothless!” He called, putting the matches back. “I’m going to save the matches for an emergency, can you come light this for me?” 

Toothless raised his dripping head out of the water, glaring at Hiccup, who noticed that what might have been a sea bass swimming away. Toothless had been mere seconds away from catching it, and Hiccup winced. “Oh. Uh, sorry bud. But so long as it’s gone, come over and light this—AH! WATCH IT!” 

Toothless chortled and went back to fishing. The plasma blast had been shot with precision at Hiccup’s feet, forcing the boy to jump backwards. A spark caught the pine needles, but Hiccup was too annoyed about the bolt. “What was that for?” He demanded, walking over and shoving Toothless slightly. 

The dragon blew bubbles out his nose and smacked Hiccup with his tail, knocking his kid backwards. “That does it,” Hiccup muttered, tackling Toothless. He ran into the dragon’s neck, pushing his head out of the water. Toothless rolled over in surprise, and Hiccup clambered so he was sitting on top of Toothless’ stomach. 

“Ha! I win this round, ye great scaly beast!” He laughed, imitating some of the older warriors. Toothless looked unimpressed, simply rolling over again and squishing Hiccup into the sand. “Oh, ok, I’m sorry, you win. You’ve won.” Hiccup patted the side off Toothless’ neck in an attempt to signal his surrender. 

Instead of getting off, Toothless sat back so he could look at Hiccup, and Hiccup could look at him. After a moment of staring, Toothless pounced again, licking all up and down Hiccup. 

“Oh! Gross! Get off, you big scaly doofus!” Hiccup wriggled away, wiping desperately at his clothes. “That’s disgusting! We’ve talked about this; your sticky dragon spit doesn’t wash out at all.” 

Toothless tilted his head, sitting calmly on his hind legs. He licked his eyeball, which Hiccup had to admit, was impressive. Toothless watched as Hiccup went over to where the waves lapped at the sand and knelt to wring his cloak out. 

The dragon dropped down and crept closer, keeping as low to the ground as he could. He shifted his back legs, wiggled his rear, adjusted his tail, and leaped. His front talons connected with Hiccup’s back, shoving the boy into the water. 

“Toothle--!” Hiccup’s shriek was cut off in the salty water as he fell face first into the ocean. He came up, spluttering. “You--” He spat out some water, laughing again. “You think you’re funny, do you? Well, let’s see how you like this!” He splashed some water in Toothless’ face. Some got into the dragon’s nose, making him sneeze. “Aha!” 

Toothless spewed some water right into Hiccup’s face. “Oh, that’s how it is?” Hiccup splashed him again. “Well, I have hands, meaning I have an advantage!” 

Toothless raised his wings above the water. 

“Oh no,” Hiccup looked at them, realizing his impending doom. 

The wings scooped the water up and all over Hiccup, making him even more soaked than he already was. Hiccup coughed a few times, struggling to get back up. “Alright, alright, you win. You win!” 

Toothless rumbled and trotted back to the sand. He waited for Hiccup, and as soon as the boy caught up, he shook himself. “Was--was that really necessary?” Hiccup made a pitiful attempt to shielf himself. Toothless chortled and went to lay by the fire. 

Hiccup took off his cloak and lay it on a nearby rock—rocks were always nearby, in the Archipelago—to dry. After that he went and lay down, propped up against Toothless and watching the flames flicker. The stars above glittered from behind the rising smoke of the campfire, and Hiccup sighed as he went to sleep. 

\----------------- 

“Well tha’ was. . .interestin’.” Gobber said, helping the last of the villagers off their ship. A few sheep came down to greet them, but everyone was too exhausted to do anything back. No one knew how they got out of their pens, and no one wanted to know. 

“Tha’s a good word for it,” Stoick said, still watching the sea that they had sailed over. “Mildew. Mildew, of all people.” 

“I mean, it’s not like we’re goin’ to miss ‘im.” Gobber tried. 

“He was in all the meetin’s, Gobber.” Stoick glowered. Not at anything or anyone in particular, just at the waves and sky. “He heard everythin’. He knows all our plans for plantin’, fishin’, even any attacks that we’ve ever planned. He knows.” Suddenly he turned and punched the rock of the cliffside. “He knows, an’ we have to change everythin’ now.” 

Gobber shuffled a few steps away from the rock. “Well, ye can’t do anythin’ about it, so. . .” He sighed. “We’re jes’ gonna have to re-do it, like ye said. It’ll turn out alrigh’, eventually.” 

“Eventually.” Stoick muttered. “Eventually should come sooner.” 

\------------ 

“How come we got saddled with rounding up the sheep?” Snotlout groaned, trying to grab one by the tail. The tail on a sheep is not that big a target, however, and so he missed. 

“Because we’re the newbies, that’s how it works.” Fishlegs managed to catch one by the hoof. He picked it up gently and placed it back in it’s pen. “We don’t have seniority yet.” 

“Seni-what?” 

“Seniority,” Fishlegs repeated. “We haven’t earned respect or anything like that yet.” 

“I knew that,” Snotlout huffed, finally managing to nab a sheep. He pushed it roughly into a pen as it kicked and bleeted at him. “Shut up, will you? I’m trying to help, you dumb cotton ball.” 

“Cotton ball?” Tuffnut snickered. “That’s you best insult?” 

“This coming from the guy who got himself stuck in a tree and had to have three adults haul him out by the feet.” 

Astrid threw a sheep over their heads and into the pen. “Stop arguing, start sorting sheep.” She walked off, following one lamb that decided it was a good idea to wander along the edge of a cliff. She scooped it up at the last second before it fell. 

The lamb bleated angrily, as if offended it wasn’t allowed to fall off a cliff. “Oh, for Thor’s sake,” Astrid muttered. 

“Sheep,” Tuffnut popped up out of nowhere. “Stupidest creatures in the world. Challenged only by the Warglebuffin.” 

“The what?” Astrid jumped slightly. Her hand would have gone to her axe had she not been holding a sheep. Sheep hinder all. Don’t get sheep, kids. “The Warglebuffin? What is that?” 

“Only the most stupid, rare, and stupidly rare creature to ever roam the Archipelago,” Tuffnut stage whispered. “They would be dangerous, except they’re so stupid. They have six-inch claws, fangs dripping in poison, and a fur coat so thick that not even the sharpest axe or strongest hammer could peirce it in one blow.” 

“Of course,” Ruffnut shoved herself into the line, holding a sheep under each arm. “They’re thedumbest creatures alive, and so knock themselves out by crashing into trees. Seriously, their brains are smaller than the smallest mouse’s.” 

“I. . .have no idea what to do with any of this,” Astrid set the lamb down in a pen. It ran over to and adult sheep, presumably it’s mother. She nodded with satisfaction and shoved away from the Twins, who went over to pester Snotlout. “Keep working, guys!” 

“You know,” Tuffnut said after a bit of silence. “Zipplebacks are interesting. They’ve got two tails, one body-” 

“Two heads, one body-” Ruffnut added, grabbing one of the few sheep that were still roaming about. It tried to bite her, but she managed to avoid it. 

“Two minds, one body!” Tuffnut accidentally dropped his sheep, running off to catch it. Ruffnut laughed so hard that her sheep managed to bite her, and, of course, she dropped it out of surprise. 

“Two bodies, half a brain!” Snotlout laughed, tossing two rams back into the pen. He brushed his hands off and stretched, watching as the Twins caught their sheep again. 

Thankfully, those were the last two sheep, and once they were in, Astrid double-checked the lock on the gate, making sure it was properly closed and latched. She nodded in satisfaction, then looked at the sun’s position in the sky. “Ok, if we’re fast, we can have a training session before we have to be home.” 

“Training for what-” Tuffnut started, but Ruffnut elbowed him so hard he lost his breath. 

“Dragons, idiot!” She said, dragging him back down the path. Fishlegs was already halfway down, followed closely by Snotlout. 

Astrid laughed before sprinting after them, passing the twins, then Snotlout, then Fishlegs. “Slowpokes!” She called over her shoulder. 

\--------- 

“Well bud, what do you say we scout out the island a little more today?” Hiccup stretched and rolled off where he had been sleeping on Toothless. He wriggled his toes in the sand, breathing the salty air in deeply. He exhaled, smiling a little bit. His leg was retrieved from its place in the saddle bags and clicked into place. Hiccup nodded in satisfaction before fixing Toothless’ saddle up, making sure everything was cinched and otherwise in place. “We should find a place to sleep. Not- not that the beach is bad, but a roof would be nice before the rain months come.” 

Toothless stretched as well, shooting a plasma blast into the sky. No reason for this, it was merely a celebratory thing. He rumbled at Hiccup, using one of his paws to bonk the boy gently in the head. Hiccup laughed, and they made their way into the woods. 

It was peaceful in there. Greens and browns mixed, making a nice blend that was occasionally interrupted by red or blue flowers growing off vines. Terrible Terrors scuttled around in the branches, squeaking and snapping at each other’s tails. Some other things rustled in the underbrush, little shadows that couldn’t quite be seen. Hiccup always edged a little bit away when one of those flashed across his line of sight, but nothing outright attacked them, so he decided that was good. 

After a few hours of wandering around the forests, they came out upon another beach. This one had a large, rocky hill side about a quarter mile in, perfect for building on. There were all sorts of niches and such, and about half of the way up Hiccup found a nice ledge, wide enough for a small hut. “What do you think about here?” He asked Toothless, laying out a few long branches to indicate where he wanted to build the house. 

Toothless tilted his head, watching as the branches were carefully placed. He tried to pick one up in his mouth, only for Hiccup to swat him away. He huffed indignantly, blowing a bit of smoke into Hiccup’s face. 

Hiccup laughed and put the stick down again, nodding to himself. “Well, we’re going to have to get ourselves some wood if we want to get this done.” He made sure the sticks would stay where he put them, then ran back into the woods. He looked for just a minute before finding a perfect tree. 

That, of course, left him to find out how to get the tree down, which is harder than you would think, if you’re a barely five-foot-five-inch teenage boy. He sat down on a nearby tree stump to think. Toothless had followed, snuffling around in the underbrush in search of anything that might possibly be interesting to a dragon. Hiccup watched as he wriggled under a fallen branch, somehow not getting caught on the rough edges. 

Then Toothless did get caught, and no amount of wriggling could get him free. He sighed in frustration, twisting his head around to get a better look, and in a blink of an eye he had shot the branch, leaving a smoking heap of embers in its place. 

“Genius!” Hiccup jumped up. He jogged over to where Toothless was growling at the now-burned branch. “Bud, c’mon over here. I need you to do that to a few more trees.”” 

Toothless tilted his head and followed Hiccup back to the grove that they had picked out. “Alright, bud. Plasma blast!” Hiccup pointed at a tree. 

Toothless just blinked at him. 

“Oh, uh,” Hiccup imitated breathing fire as best he could. “That. That’s plasma blast. Do that.” 

The dragon looked even more confused. 

“Er,” Hiccup tapped his fingers against his leg. “Let’s see. . .what you did to that branch back there? To free yourself? Can you do that again, but on this tree?” 

Hiccup could see that it had clicked by watching Toothless. The dragon nodded—something he learned from watching Hiccup—and trotted forward towards the tree. He reared back and fired, and in a second the thing was on the ground, the end of it smoking. 

“Yes!” Hiccup punched the air. Then he realized something. “. . .Now we’ve got to get it back to our site.” He glanced up at the sky to get the time; the sun was just starting to set. “Well, looks like we’re spending another night out on the beach, bud.” 

Something—one of those shadows—rustled in the undergrowth. Hiccup took a step away, just to make sure it felt no need to attack him. He looked up through the gap that felling the tree had left in the canopy. A few stars were already blinking into sight. 

All at once those stars were blocked out. The form of a huge black dragon was silhouetted against them, and a shriek sounded through the air. Hiccup stumbled back, bumping into Toothless, who had crouched down and started growling. The dragon’s eyes had turned to slits, glaring up at the sky. 

Hiccup swung his good leg over Toothless and got a good grip on the saddle. “Let’s see what that thing is, Toothless.” He clicked the metal leg into its proper place and leaned down as Toothless shot into the sky. 

Each beat of Toothless’ wings took them closer to the larger dragon, but it showed no sign of moving out of the way. Or attacking, which came as a bit of a relief to Hiccup. In a blink of an eye they were right up to it’s chest, and then-- 

And then they were in the midst of chaos. Dozens of small wings flapped around Hiccup and Toothless, little squawks sounded from the dragon—but it wasn’t a dragon. It was a whole flock of the things, gathered together. “They make up a big dragon to scare things off!” Hiccup realized, grinning. He looked around, trying to figure out if there was a leader. 

Towards where the dragon’s head had been—there was some disbanding when Toothless burst into the swarm—there was a slightly larger white one, cawing at all the others as if giving orders. “Go that way, Toothless,” Hiccup said, leaning down close to Toothless’ back. 

When they reached the leader, Hiccup sat back up. The little white dragon screeched at him, but Hiccup just slowly held his hand out. He barely breathed as the white dragon hovered in place, croaking at him and tilting its head. 

After what felt like an age, the little creature put its nose into Hiccup’s hand, closing its eyes. Hiccup exhaled at the same time as the dragon did, and he scratched its horn slightly. “I’m not so bad, see?” He grinned a little bit. “Care to disband your troops?” 

The little dragon flapped a few feet away and screeched again, and all the black ones scattered in all directions, like a storm dispersing after it had run its course. Toothless shook his head as if to say; “Good riddance.” 

Hiccup patted the side of his head. “Be nice, bud. And you,” He gestured at the little white dragon, which had stayed. “What am I going to call you? I’ve gotta call you something.” 

The thing roared its tiny roar, flapping around Hiccup’s head happily. Hiccup reached up, laughing, to pet its belly. The little dragon squawked with pleasure, the moon and starlight bouncing off its scales. “How about White?” Hiccup said aloud, petting both his own dragon and the little one. 

Toothless snorted with disgust. “Oh, and I suppose you have a better one?” Hiccup scratched under one of the Night Fury’s horns, and Toothless smiled and leaned his head into it. “That’s what I thought.” 

He looked down at the ground where the log was and thought for a moment. “White, can you do something for me?” He stopped petting White for a second. The little dragon cocked its head at him. “Can you call your friends back? I’ve got a favor to ask you guys.” 

White tilted his head the other way in confusion. Hiccup realized that he didn’t have the level of communication with this dragon as he did Toothless and was about to sigh in resignation when Toothless made a gurgling noise at the little dragon. In a burst of sudden understanding, White screeched again, and in mere seconds the pack had reappeared. 

As one the group swooped down to the ground in a flurry of wings and tails. Hiccup pulled Toothless up a few more feet, giving the small dragons more clearance over the trees. To his surprise, Hiccup didn’t even have to pass another message along; the pack simply grabbed the trunk and dumped it precisely where Hiccup had marked. 

“How detailed was that gurgle?” He asked in amazement, laying a hand on Toothless’ neck. Toothless just gurgled in response, smiling in as good an impression of Hiccup as he could. “You really are amazing, bud,” Hiccup laughed. “You’ll have to teach me that gurgle sometime.” 

The rest of the night passed in a blur, with trees being felled and placed. Just as the stars dimmed and the sun rose, they finished the walls. “We now have a box to live in, bud,” Hiccup took a deep breath. “That’s nice.” 

Toothless rumbled a little and landed, snuffling through the leaves. 

“Hungry?” Hiccup asked, procuring a dried fish from the day before. He tossed it at the dragon. It went up through the air in a glorious arc. At its zenith Toothless leaped, intercepting before it could even start falling to the ground. Toothless tipped his head back and swallowed. He lowered his head again and started making noises like an uncomfortable cat. 

“Oh, no, please don’t,” Hiccup groaned. Toothless paid him no mind, and in a second a half-chewed slimy cod had been spat at Hiccup’s feet. “Eurgh,” Hiccup pushed it away with his metal foot. “I’m good, bud, thanks. You can finish it.” 

Toothless made a shrugging motion and basically inhaled the fish. When finished, he looked from the saddlebags containing food to Hiccup, then tilted his head. 

“I’ll eat in a bit, Toothless,” Hiccup promised, unsheathing his knife. He walked over to one of the logs that made up the walls and crouched down. After ten minutes a carving—albeit a crude one—of a human and a Night Fury decorated the log. “There,” He stood up again, brushing the wood shavings off his pants. “That’s good to start.” He got onto Toothless, and they took off towards the beach. 

\----------   
“So wha’s the plan, Alvin?” Savage asked, watching as his chief sat on his throne sharpening his axe. The throne was made of black stone, with the occasional bone attached with metal. “We got all their plans, sir, an’ we might be able to--” 

The eleborately decorated axe spun past Savage’s head. “Not another word.” Alvin grunted, getting up and walking past. He yanked the axe out of the wall where it had embedded itself. It wasn’t even any effort for him, just a simple tug and the blade was out. 

“Yes sir,” Savage squeaked, stepping to the side quickly. “Got it. But what about the Mildew man?” 

“He’s still useful to us. . .for now,” Alvin turned back around to face his second in command. “When he isn’t, though. . .we don’ need useless things, do we?” 

“No, sir, we do not,” Savage grinned. 

\--------- 

“Do you ever wonder where Hiccup is?” Fishlegs asked Astrid as they walked to the cove for training. “Like, how he’s doing, what he’s doing. All that.” He tripped over a log, and was thankful that Snotlout was ahead, bickering with the Twins. 

“You want an honest answer?” Astrid spun her axe around, looking around for a good tree to use as a target. She picked a scraggly pine, hitting it dead center in its trunk. A few splinters flew off as the axe stuck, and Astrid went over to pull it out. “All--” She tugged. “The--” Another tug. “Time.” The axe finally came out, and she stumbled backwards a step before regaining her balance. “I miss him,” She said quietly.


	13. Yeet I'm Alive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, short chapter, late update. . .sorry. i'm also not going to be updating regularly until the holidays are over, but the fic isn't dead yet!
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!

“Ok, lower. . .lower. . .” Hiccup motioned his hands to demonstrate what he wanted. “That’s it—there! Right there! Drop it!” 

The log crashed into place, exactly where Hiccup had hoped it would land. “Yes!” he punched the air. “Yes! Did anybody see that?” Toothless made some garbled laughing noises. “Except you, bud.” Hiccup grinned. “Well, that was the last bit of the roof.” 

The Night Terrors all tilted their heads at him. 

“There! That was the last bit!” Hiccup waved his arms at the now-completed hut. “You can go do. . .dragon things! Whatever those are.” 

The small dragons simply blinked a bit. 

“Oh, for the love of. . .” Hiccup muttered, lowering his arms. He raised his voice a little bit. “Follow me, everybody!” With that, he was running, racing off into the woods. 

This was a game the dragons all understood. The Night Terrors all flapped after him, squawking and chattering. Toothless bounded after his boy, leaping and pushing himself off trees. The only thing that kept him from catching up to Hiccup was the human’s changes in direction. Birds fled the chase, probably wondering what had disturbed their previously peaceful island. 

“C’mon, you’re better than this!” Hiccup laughed and skidded down a hill, leading with his foot that was still able to wear a boot. The metal, while good for day-to-day use, wasn’t exactly prime gripping material, especially with the mud that coated this particular hill. He used a rock to leap away from the slick ground, caught a tree branch—ignoring the bark scraping up his palms—and swung up, laughing. 

Just as Hiccup had leapt, Toothless had pounced. However, when the boy was suddenly in a tree and not landing on the ground, as he should have, Toothless crashed, right into a pile of mud. He glared up at where Hiccup sat in the tree. 

“Hey, you shouldn’t have jumped,” Hiccup shrugged and climbed higher as the Night Terrors came closer. A few of them flew right by him, but more swarmed up the tree, forcing him higher and higher into the tree. 

He ran out of branches to grab onto, his head reaching out into the open air. The Night Terrors stopped chasing in favor of simply sitting on the tree’s limbs beneath him, knowing full well that he was stuck up there. “Alright, you guys win,” Hiccup conceded, hugging the trunk of the tree and sliding down it like a fireman’s pole. “This time. But next time, next time I’ll stump you for sure.” 

Toothless gurgled at him once his feet hit the ground. “Oh, look who’s talking, mud face.” Hiccup’s boot hit the ground, and he lowered his other leg gingerly. He looked at it. “I should get some spares, I think.” 

Some mud splattered on him. “Come on!” He protested. “Was that really necessary?” 

Toothless blinked back at him innocently. 

“Well, that’s a problem for tomorrow,” Hiccup stretched a bit, watching as the last of the Night Terrors disappeared. “What do you say we go to bed, hey bud?” 

Toothless didn’t come along, however. He looked up through a gap in the trees, up at the moon that was just starting to wane. 

Hiccup walked over and stood next to the dragon for a minute. “You want to go flying, don’t you?” 

Toothless’ head swiveled over to look at Hiccup. His pupils went wide, and he started wiggling with happiness. “Alright, alright,” Hiccup laughed and swung his leg over the saddle. “Just a quick flight before bed, ok bud?” 

In reply, Toothless shot towards the hole in the trees, bursting through the leaves into the cool night air. The stars glimmered as they flew up, up towards the moon. 

\---------- 

Astrid’s axe got stuck in the tree, and no amount of tugging could remove it. She grunted with exertion, well-aware of Snotlout’s eyes upon her. “Want some help?” He asked, leaning against another tree. There were lots of them around, because, y’know, forest. “I’m very strong-” 

“Snotlout,” Astrid said calmly, pulling a knife out of one of her pockets. Her skirt did not look like it should have pockets, but it did. “If you ever try to flirt with me again--” She stalked closer and Snotlout gulped a bit, leaning away. Astrid continued threatening him. “--I will end the Jorgenson line, you hear?” 

“Yes,” Snotlout said quickly. “Yeah, yeah, no flirting. Got it.” He scrambled over a rock and disappeared into the thick forest. 

Astrid sighed and went back to removing the axe. It finally came free, making her stumble back. She huffed just a bit, slinging it over her back once more as she headed home. 

\-------- 

Stoick stared into the flames of his hearth, deep in thought. His helmet was on the other end of the table, where Hiccup always used to sit. A single spark leapt out of its place, catching onto the fur in Stoick’s cloak. He didn’t even notice for a full minute, at which point a large patch was burned out of the thing. He sighed and stomped it out, pouring water over the fire until it fizzled out. As the last ember faded to black, he stomped up the stairs, flopping onto his bed and being miserable there. 

\---------- 

On an island a good distance away from both Berk and Hiccup’s island, a block of ice was slowly beginning to melt, slowly revealing purple and grey scales. Ships—not Hooligan, but not Outcast—pulled into the only area on the island that could work as a harbor, and boots crunched across the rocky sand. Pickaxes began to chip at the ice, hacking away so the purple became more sharply contrasted against the grey. Shouts of excitement and triumph rang out, and soldiers got more and more vigorous at their chopping. 

One man watched from a short distance, face half-hidden by the dark shadow of his horned helmet. He grinned, making the blue ink of his facial tattoos twist into odd shapes. “Are we getting closer?” He called out, and one of the soldiers shouted back an affirmative. 

“Excelllent,” He said quietly, grinning even broader than before.


End file.
